JOURNAL DESCRIPTION
The Medical Radiology and Radiation Safety journal ISSN 1024-6177 was founded in January 1956 (before December 30, 1993 it was entitled Medical Radiology, ISSN 0025-8334). In 2018, the journal received Online ISSN: 2618-9615 and was registered as an electronic online publication in Roskomnadzor on March 29, 2018. It publishes original research articles which cover questions of radiobiology, radiation medicine, radiation safety, radiation therapy, nuclear medicine and scientific reviews. In general the journal has more than 30 headings and it is of interest for specialists working in thefields of medicine¸ radiation biology, epidemiology, medical physics and technology. Since July 01, 2008 the journal has been published by State Research Center - Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center of Federal Medical Biological Agency. The founder from 1956 to the present time is the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, and from 2008 to the present time is the Federal Medical Biological Agency.
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Medical Radiology and Radiation Safety. 2026. Vol. 71. № 4
DOI:10.33266/1024-6177-2026-71-4-12-20
V.G. Shuvatova, D.A. Shaposhnikova, K.V. Kondratyev, E.Yu. Moskaleva
RADIOSENSITIVITY OF MCF-7 HUMAN BREAST CANCER STEM CELLS CULTURED AS 2D- AND 3D-CULTURES
National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, Moscow, Russia
Contact person: E.Yu. Moskaleva, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: Tumor cells cultured under special conditions in 3D cultures (3DK) are characterized by higher radioresistance than cells in 2D cultures (2DK), but it is not known how the conditions of these two cultivation methods affect the radiosensitivity of cancer stem cells (СSCs). In this regard, the aim of the work was to compare human breast adenocarcinoma cells of the MCF-7 line, cultured in the form of 2DK and 3DK, according to the parameters characterizing the rate of cell proliferation, the content of CSCs and the radiosensitivity of the cells of these cultures and CSCs in their composition when exposed to γ-radiation.
Material and methods: To characterize the rate of cell proliferation in 2DK and 3DK, cell doubling time was analyzed by dynamic cell counting using light microscopy; cell cycle parameters and the proportion of proliferating cells based on the number of Ki67+ cells were assessed using flow cytometry. The content of CSCs was assessed by the proportion and number of cells with the CD44+/CD24-/low phenotype, by the size of the SP fraction and by the proportion of cells with high aldehyde dehydrogenase activity using flow cytometry. Cells were γ-irradiated using the GUT-200M system at doses of 1–8 Gy at a dose rate of 0.75 Gy/min. Cell radiosensitivity was assessed using the D0 and Dq indices.
Results: MCF-7 cells cultured as 3DK were shown to have a longer cell doubling time and slower proliferation, than 2DK cells as was assessed by cell cycle parameters and the proportion of Ki67+ cells. Culturing cells as 3DK resulted in a 10-fold increase in the СSC content, as assessed by all СSC determination methods used, compared to 2DK cells. The radioresistance of MCF-7 CSCs when cultured as 2DK cells (D0=3.0±0.5 Gy) is twice as high as that of the total 2DK cell population (D0=1.5±0.2 Gy). The radioresistance of MCF-7 CSCs when cultured as 3DK cells does not differ from that of the total 3DK cell population (D0=2.5±0.3 and 2.2±0.3 Gy, respectively). The radiosensitivity of MCF-7 CSCs when cultured as 2DK and 3DK cells under the influence of γ-radiation is the same, despite the higher radioresistance of the overall 3DK cell population. 3DK cells, as well as CSCs in 3DK, are characterized by a higher capacity for sublethal damage repair, assessed by the Dq value, than in 2DK, although these differences were statistically insignificant.
Conclusion: The radioresistance of MCF-7 CSCs when cultured as 2DK cells is twice as high as that of the entire 2D cell population, while when cultured as 3DK cells, the radioresistance of CSCs and the entire cell population is equal. The radiosensitivity of MCF-7 CSCs when cultured as 2DK and 3DK to γ-irradiation is equal, despite the higher radioresistance of the entire 3DK cell population than that of 2DK cells.
Keywords: cancer stem cells, radiosensitivity, breast cancer, cell culture, MCF-7 line, 2D culture, 3D culture, mammospheres
For citation: Shuvatova VG, Shaposhnikova DA, Kondratyev KV, Moskaleva EYu. Radiosensitivity of MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Stem Cells cultured as 2D- and 3D-Cultures. Medical Radiology and Radiation Safety. 2026;71(4):12–20. DOI:10.33266/1024-6177-2026-71-4-12-20
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PDF (RUS) Full-text article (in Russian)
Conflict of interest.The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Financing. The work was carried out as part of the state assignment for the Kurchatov Institute.
Contribution. V.G. Shuvatova – development of the research design, conducting experiments, analysis of the obtained results, and writing the article; D.A. Shaposhnikova – conducting and analyzing the data of experiments using flow cytometry; K.V. Kondratyev – dosimetric analysis and conducting γ-irradiation sessions of cells; E.Yu. Moskaleva – development of the research concept, data analysis, writing, and scientific editing of the article.
Article received: 20.03.2026. Accepted for publication: 25.04.2026.