Study of human prostate spheroids treated with zinc using X ray microfluorescence

Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed type of cancer in men and the second leading cause of their cancer death in many countries. Human tumor cells cultured in three dimensions display increased pro-angiogenic capacities and resistance to interferons, chemotherapeutic agents or irradiation, as compared with cells cultured in two dimensional monolayers. In this study, we investigated Zn distribution in prostate cancer spheroids (DU145) and analyzed the differences in the response to Zinc (0-150 μM) treatment using X-ray microfluorescence with Synchrotron Radiation (SRμXRF). The measurements were performed in standard geometry of 45° incidence, exciting with a white beam and using an optical capillary with 20 μm diameter collimation in the XRF beam line at the Synchrotron Light National Laboratory (Campinas, Brazil). The results showed non-uniform distribution of Zn in all the spheroids analyzed. Zn treatment showed a decrease in Zn intensity with the increase of its concentration in DU145 spheroids. The differential response to zinc of DU145 cell spheroids suggests that zinc may have an important role in prostate cancer.