Microfluidic device to investigate biophysical cues in cancer progression
2017
Binghamton University, Binghamton, USA
Fibroblasts are one of the stromal cell types that have a key role in cancer progression. Activated fibroblasts can come from endothelial cells undergoing a process of transformation into mesenchymal cell-like cells known as endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Low and oscillatory shear stresses have been shown to be relevant in metastasis through specific changes in cytoskeleton proteins, which can be relevant for stromal cells transformation. Here, a 3D microfluidic device with human endothelial cells was developed for investigating the impact of steady low shear stress and changes in the extracellular matrix properties on the endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition. The results showed that extracellular matrix composition and shear stress can regulate the endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, when including 3D spheroids with human breast cancer cells in the device, it was elucidated that shear stress could also regulate the spheroid size and that cancer cell-related properties are induced by activated fibroblasts derived from cells undergoing endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Overall, the researchers present a new microfluidic platform that allows the investigation of the influence of biophysical cues of the tumor microenvironment in cancer-related processes and the mechanisms underlying them.
The role of shear stress and altered tissue properties on endothelial to mesenchymal transformation and tumor-endothelial cell interaction
Gretchen J Mahler
Added on: 10-19-2021
[1] https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.4991738[2] https://data.jrc.ec.europa.eu/dataset/ffebe454-ed9a-47cf-8a33-8cf70c1b7d38
