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Cadavid JL, Li NT, McGuigan AP. Bridging systems biology and tissue engineering: Unleashing the full potential of complex 3D in vitro tissue models of disease. BIOPHYSICS REVIEWS 2024; 5:021301. [PMID: 38617201 PMCID: PMC11008916 DOI: 10.1063/5.0179125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
Rapid advances in tissue engineering have resulted in more complex and physiologically relevant 3D in vitro tissue models with applications in fundamental biology and therapeutic development. However, the complexity provided by these models is often not leveraged fully due to the reductionist methods used to analyze them. Computational and mathematical models developed in the field of systems biology can address this issue. Yet, traditional systems biology has been mostly applied to simpler in vitro models with little physiological relevance and limited cellular complexity. Therefore, integrating these two inherently interdisciplinary fields can result in new insights and move both disciplines forward. In this review, we provide a systematic overview of how systems biology has been integrated with 3D in vitro tissue models and discuss key application areas where the synergies between both fields have led to important advances with potential translational impact. We then outline key directions for future research and discuss a framework for further integration between fields.
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Ko J, Song J, Lee Y, Choi N, Kim HN. Understanding organotropism in cancer metastasis using microphysiological systems. LAB ON A CHIP 2024; 24:1542-1556. [PMID: 38192269 DOI: 10.1039/d3lc00889d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
Cancer metastasis, the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, remains a complex challenge in medical science. Stephen Paget's "seed and soil theory" introduced the concept of organotropism, suggesting that metastatic success depends on specific organ microenvironments. Understanding organotropism not only offers potential for curbing metastasis but also novel treatment strategies. Microphysiological systems (MPS), especially organ-on-a-chip models, have emerged as transformative tools in this quest. These systems, blending microfluidics, biology, and engineering, grant precise control over cell interactions within organ-specific microenvironments. MPS enable real-time monitoring, morphological analysis, and protein quantification, enhancing our comprehension of cancer dynamics, including tumor migration, vascularization, and pre-metastatic niches. In this review, we explore innovative applications of MPS in investigating cancer metastasis, particularly focusing on organotropism. This interdisciplinary approach converges the field of science, engineering, and medicine, thereby illuminating a path toward groundbreaking discoveries in cancer research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jihoon Ko
- Department of BioNano Technology, Gachon University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 13120, Republic of Korea.
| | - Jiyoung Song
- Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea.
| | - Yedam Lee
- Department of BioNano Technology, Gachon University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 13120, Republic of Korea.
| | - Nakwon Choi
- Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea.
- Division of Bio-Medical Science & Technology, KIST School, Korea University of Science and Technology, Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea
- KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea
| | - Hong Nam Kim
- Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea.
- Division of Bio-Medical Science & Technology, KIST School, Korea University of Science and Technology, Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea
- Yonsei-KIST Convergence Research Institute, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea
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3
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Richbourg NR, Irakoze N, Kim H, Peyton SR. Outlook and opportunities for engineered environments of breast cancer dormancy. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadl0165. [PMID: 38457510 PMCID: PMC10923521 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adl0165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
Dormant, disseminated breast cancer cells resist treatment and may relapse into malignant metastases after decades of quiescence. Identifying how and why these dormant breast cancer cells are triggered into outgrowth is a key unsolved step in treating latent, metastatic breast cancer. However, our understanding of breast cancer dormancy in vivo is limited by technical challenges and ethical concerns with triggering the activation of dormant breast cancer. In vitro models avoid many of these challenges by simulating breast cancer dormancy and activation in well-controlled, bench-top conditions, creating opportunities for fundamental insights into breast cancer biology that complement what can be achieved through animal and clinical studies. In this review, we address clinical and preclinical approaches to treating breast cancer dormancy, how precisely controlled artificial environments reveal key interactions that regulate breast cancer dormancy, and how future generations of biomaterials could answer further questions about breast cancer dormancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan R. Richbourg
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Ninette Irakoze
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Hyuna Kim
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Shelly R. Peyton
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, USA
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, MA 01003, USA
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4
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Kumar A, Lunawat AK, Kumar A, Sharma T, Islam MM, Kahlon MS, Mukherjee D, Narang RK, Raikwar S. Recent Trends in Nanocarrier-Based Drug Delivery System for Prostate Cancer. AAPS PharmSciTech 2024; 25:55. [PMID: 38448649 DOI: 10.1208/s12249-024-02765-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Prostate cancer remains a significant global health concern, requiring innovative approaches for improved therapeutic outcomes. In recent years, nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems have emerged as promising strategies to address the limitations of conventional cancer chemotherapy. The key trends include utilizing nanoparticles for enhancing drug delivery to prostate cancer cells. Nanoparticles have some advantages such as improved drug solubility, prolonged circulation time, and targeted delivery of drugs. Encapsulation of chemotherapeutic agents within nanoparticles allows for controlled release kinetics, reducing systemic toxicity while maintaining therapeutic efficacy. Additionally, site-specific accumulation within the prostate tumor microenvironment is made possible by the functionalization of nanocarrier with targeted ligands, improving therapeutic effectiveness. This article highlights the basics of prostate cancer, statistics of prostate cancer, mechanism of multidrug resistance, targeting approach, and different types of nanocarrier used for the treatment of prostate cancer. It also includes the applications of nanocarriers for the treatment of prostate cancer and clinical trial studies to validate the safety and efficacy of the innovative drug delivery systems. The article focused on developing nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems, with the goal of translating these advancements into clinical applications in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amit Kumar
- Department of Pharmaceutics, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, 142001, Punjab, India
| | - Akshay Kumar Lunawat
- Department of Pharmaceutics, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, 142001, Punjab, India
| | - Ashutosh Kumar
- Department of Pharmaceutics, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, 142001, Punjab, India
| | - Tarun Sharma
- Department of Pharmaceutics, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, 142001, Punjab, India
| | - Md Moidul Islam
- Department of Pharmaceutics, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, 142001, Punjab, India
| | - Milan Singh Kahlon
- Department of Pharmaceutics, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, 142001, Punjab, India
| | - Debanjan Mukherjee
- Department of Quality Assurance, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, 142001, Punjab, India
| | - Raj Kumar Narang
- Department of Pharmaceutics, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, 142001, Punjab, India
| | - Sarjana Raikwar
- Department of Pharmaceutics, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, 142001, Punjab, India.
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5
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McDonald JC, Clark AM. Modeling Tumor Cell Dormancy in an Ex Vivo Liver Metastatic Niche. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2811:37-53. [PMID: 39037648 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3882-8_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
Despite decades of research into metastatic disease, our knowledge of the mechanisms governing dormancy are still limited. Unraveling the process will aid in developing effective therapies to either maintain or eliminate these dormant cells and thus prevent them from emerging into overt metastatic disease. To study the behavior of dormant tumor cells-mechanisms that promote, maintain, and disrupt this state-we utilize the Legacy LiverChip®, an all-human ex vivo hepatic microphysiological system. This complex, bioengineered system is able to recreate metastatic disease that is reflective of the human situation and is among only a handful of systems able to mimic spontaneous tumor cell dormancy. The dormant subpopulation reflects the defining traits of cellular dormancy-survival in a foreign microenvironment, chemoresistance, and reversible growth arrest. This microphysiological system has and continues to provide critical insights into the biology of dormant tumor cells. It also serves as an accessible tool to identify new therapeutic strategies targeting dormancy and concurrently evaluate the efficacy of therapeutic agents as well as their metabolism and dose-limiting toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob C McDonald
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Amanda M Clark
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh and UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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6
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Ganesan R, Bhasin SS, Bakhtiary M, Krishnan U, Cheemarla NR, Thomas BE, Bhasin MK, Sukhatme VP. Taxane chemotherapy induces stromal injury that leads to breast cancer dormancy escape. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002275. [PMID: 37699010 PMCID: PMC10497165 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023] Open
Abstract
A major cause of cancer recurrence following chemotherapy is cancer dormancy escape. Taxane-based chemotherapy is standard of care in breast cancer treatment aimed at killing proliferating cancer cells. Here, we demonstrate that docetaxel injures stromal cells, which release protumor cytokines, IL-6 and granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), that in turn invoke dormant cancer outgrowth both in vitro and in vivo. Single-cell transcriptomics shows a reprogramming of awakened cancer cells including several survival cues such as stemness, chemoresistance in a tumor stromal organoid (TSO) model, as well as an altered tumor microenvironment (TME) with augmented protumor immune signaling in a syngeneic mouse breast cancer model. IL-6 plays a role in cancer cell proliferation, whereas G-CSF mediates tumor immunosuppression. Pathways and differential expression analyses confirmed MEK as the key regulatory molecule in cancer cell outgrowth and survival. Antibody targeting of protumor cytokines (IL-6, G-CSF) or inhibition of cytokine signaling via MEK/ERK pathway using selumetinib prior to docetaxel treatment prevented cancer dormancy outgrowth suggesting a novel therapeutic strategy to prevent cancer recurrence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramya Ganesan
- Department of Medicine—Renal Division, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Swati S. Bhasin
- Department of Pediatrics—Hematology Division, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Mojtaba Bakhtiary
- Department of Pediatrics—Hematology Division, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Upaasana Krishnan
- Department of Pediatrics—Hematology Division, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Nagarjuna R. Cheemarla
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Beena E. Thomas
- Department of Pediatrics—Hematology Division, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Manoj K. Bhasin
- Department of Pediatrics—Hematology Division, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Vikas P. Sukhatme
- Department of Medicine—Renal Division, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
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Perioperative escape from dormancy of spontaneous micro-metastases: A role for malignant secretion of IL-6, IL-8, and VEGF, through adrenergic and prostaglandin signaling. Brain Behav Immun 2023; 109:175-187. [PMID: 36646396 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2023.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
We recently showed that a minimally-invasive removal of MDA-MB-231HM primary tumors (PTs) and elimination of their secreted factors (including IL-6, IL-8, VEGF, EGF, PDGF-aa, MIF, SerpinE1, and M-CSF), caused regression of spontaneous micro-metastases into a non-growing dormant state. To explore the underlying mechanisms and potential clinical ramifications of this phenomenon, we herein used the MDA-MB-231HM human breast cancer cell-line, in-vitro, and in vivo following orthotopic implantation in immune-deficient BALB/C nu/nu mice. Employing bioluminescence imaging, we found that adding laparotomy to minimally-invasive removal of the PT caused an outbreak of micro-metastases. However, perioperative β-adrenergic and COX-2 inhibition, using propranolol + etodolac, maintained metastatic dormancy following laparotomy. In-vitro, β-adrenergic agonists (epinephrine or metaproterenol) and prostaglandin-E2 markedly increased MDA-MB-231HM secretion of the pro-metastatic factors IL-6, IL-8, and VEGF, whereas cortisol reduced their secretion, effects that were maintained even 12 h after the washout of these agonists. In-vivo, laparotomy elevated IL-6 and IL-8 levels in both plasma and ex-vivo PT spontaneous secretion, whereas perioperative propranolol + etodolac administration blocked these effects. Similar trends were evident for EGF and MIF. Promoter-based bioinformatics analyses of excised PT transcriptomes implicated elevated NF-kB activity and reduced IRF1 activity in the gene regulatory effects of laparotomy, and these effects were inhibited by pre-surgical propranolol + etodolac. Taken together, our findings suggest a novel mechanism of post-operative metastatic outbreak, where surgery-induced adrenergic and prostanoid signaling increase the secretion of pro-metastatic factors, including IL-6, IL-8, and VEGF, from PT and possibly residual malignant tissue, and thereby prevent residual disease from entering dormancy.
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8
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Therapeutic targeting of dormant cancer stem cells in solid tumors. GENE REPORTS 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.genrep.2022.101717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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9
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Kondapaneni RV, Warren R, Rao SS. Low dose chemotherapy induces a dormant state in brain metastatic breast cancer spheroids. AIChE J 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/aic.17858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Raghu Vamsi Kondapaneni
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa AL USA
| | - Rachel Warren
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa AL USA
| | - Shreyas S. Rao
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa AL USA
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10
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Metabolic Features of Tumor Dormancy: Possible Therapeutic Strategies. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14030547. [PMID: 35158815 PMCID: PMC8833651 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14030547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2021] [Revised: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Tumor recurrence still represents a major clinical challenge for cancer patients. Cancer cells may undergo a dormant state for long times before re-emerging. Both intracellular- and extracellular-driven pathways are involved in maintaining the dormant state and the subsequent awakening, with a mechanism that is still mostly unknown. In this scenario, cancer metabolism is emerging as a critical driver of tumor progression and dissemination and have gained increasing attention in cancer research. This review focuses on the metabolic adaptations characterizing the dormant phenotype and supporting tumor re-growth. Deciphering the metabolic adaptation sustaining tumor dormancy may pave the way for novel therapeutic approaches to prevent tumor recurrence based on combined metabolic drugs. Abstract Tumor relapse represents one of the main obstacles to cancer treatment. Many patients experience cancer relapse even decades from the primary tumor eradication, developing more aggressive and metastatic disease. This phenomenon is associated with the emergence of dormant cancer cells, characterized by cell cycle arrest and largely insensitive to conventional anti-cancer therapies. These rare and elusive cells may regain proliferative abilities upon the induction of cell-intrinsic and extrinsic factors, thus fueling tumor re-growth and metastasis formation. The molecular mechanisms underlying the maintenance of resistant dormant cells and their awakening are intriguing but, currently, still largely unknown. However, increasing evidence recently underlined a strong dependency of cell cycle progression to metabolic adaptations of cancer cells. Even if dormant cells are frequently characterized by a general metabolic slowdown and an increased ability to cope with oxidative stress, different factors, such as extracellular matrix composition, stromal cells influence, and nutrient availability, may dictate specific changes in dormant cells, finally resulting in tumor relapse. The main topic of this review is deciphering the role of the metabolic pathways involved in tumor cells dormancy to provide new strategies for selectively targeting these cells to prevent fatal recurrence and maximize therapeutic benefit.
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Preciado JA, Aksan A. Method to Isolate Dormant Cancer Cells from Heterogeneous Populations. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2394:19-29. [PMID: 35094319 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1811-0_2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Cancer recurrence is responsible for a high percentage of cancer-related deaths. Primary tumor removal, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy often leave behind cancer cells that are clinically undetectable. Recent evidence has shown that subpopulations of these residual cancer cells enter into a prolonged dormant state, remaining quiescent for months to years, and eventually lead to metastases and relapse (Sosa et al. Nat Rev Cancer 14:611-622, 2014). Identifying the presence of and isolating these dormancy-capable cells (DCCs) from resected tumors or bodily fluids may therefore provide an opportunity to understand their biology and develop personalized treatments for patients at risk for relapse. Physical confinement in a stiff and porous 3D matrix, which inhibits proliferation, migration, and growth of the immobilized cells, has been shown to isolate DCC populations (Preciado et al. Technology 05:1-10, 2017; Reátegui et al. J Mater Chem B 2:7440-7448, 2014). Isolated DCCs can then be recovered from the gel and analyzed. Here we describe this immobilization method that can be used to isolate DCCs from heterogeneous cell populations that may also include dormancy-incapable cancer cells and host cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian A Preciado
- Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Alptekin Aksan
- Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
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12
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Wang AJ, Allen A, Sofman M, Sphabmixay P, Yildiz E, Griffith LG. Engineering Modular 3D Liver Culture Microenvironments In Vitro to Parse the Interplay between Biophysical and Biochemical Microenvironment Cues on Hepatic Phenotypes. ADVANCED NANOBIOMED RESEARCH 2022; 2:2100049. [PMID: 35872804 PMCID: PMC9307216 DOI: 10.1002/anbr.202100049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
In vitro models of human liver functions are used across a diverse range of applications in preclinical drug development and disease modeling, with particular increasing interest in models that capture facets of liver inflammatory status. This study investigates how the interplay between biophysical and biochemical microenvironment cues influence phenotypic responses, including inflammation signatures, of primary human hepatocytes (PHH) cultured in a commercially available perfused bioreactor. A 3D printing-based alginate microwell system was designed to form thousands of hepatic spheroids in a scalable manner as a comparator 3D culture modality to the bioreactor. Soft, synthetic extracellular matrix (ECM) hydrogel scaffolds with biophysical properties mimicking features of liver were engineered to replace polystyrene scaffolds, and the biochemical microenvironment was modulated with a defined set of growth factors and signaling modulators. The supplemented media significantly increased tissue density, albumin secretion, and CYP3A4 activity but also upregulated inflammatory markers. Basal inflammatory markers were lower for cells maintained in ECM hydrogel scaffolds or spheroid formats than polystyrene scaffolds, while hydrogel scaffolds exhibited the most sensitive response to inflammation as assessed by multiplexed cytokine and RNA-seq analyses. Together, these engineered 3D liver microenvironments provide insights for probing human liver functions and inflammatory response in vitro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex J Wang
- Biological Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Allysa Allen
- Biological Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Marianna Sofman
- Biological Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Pierre Sphabmixay
- Mechanical Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA; Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 455 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Ece Yildiz
- Biological Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA; Institute of Bioengineering, School of Life Science, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Route Cantonale, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Linda G. Griffith
- Biological Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA; Center for Gynepathology Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
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13
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Akkoc Y, Gozuacik D. Autophagy and Hepatic Tumor Microenvironment Associated Dormancy. J Gastrointest Cancer 2021; 52:1277-1293. [PMID: 34921672 DOI: 10.1007/s12029-021-00774-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
The goal of successful cancer treatment is targeting the eradication of cancer cells. Although surgical removal of the primary tumors and several rounds of chemo- and radiotherapy reduce the disease burden, in some cases, asymptomatic dormant cancer cells may still exist in the body. Dormant cells arise from the disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) from the primary lesion. DTCs escape from immune system and cancer therapy and reside at the secondary organ without showing no sign of proliferation. However, under some conditions. dormant cells can be re-activated and enter a proliferative state even after decades. As a stress response mechanism, autophagy may help the adaptation of DTCs at this futile foreign microenvironment and may control the survival and re-activation of dormant cells. Studies indicate that hepatic microenvironment serves a favorable condition for cancer cell dormancy. Although, no direct study was pointing out the role of autophagy in liver-assisted dormancy, involvement of autophagy in both liver microenvironment, health, and disease conditions has been indicated. Therefore, in this review article, we will summarize cancer dormancy and discuss the role and importance of autophagy and hepatic microenvironment in this context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunus Akkoc
- Koç University Research Centre for Translational Medicine (KUTTAM), Istanbul, 34010, Turkey.
| | - Devrim Gozuacik
- Koç University Research Centre for Translational Medicine (KUTTAM), Istanbul, 34010, Turkey.,Koç University School of Medicine, Istanbul, 34010, Turkey
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14
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Zhao L, Zhang K, He H, Yang Y, Li W, Liu T, Li J. The Relationship Between Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Tumor Dormancy. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:731393. [PMID: 34712663 PMCID: PMC8545891 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.731393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Tumor dormancy, a state of tumor, is clinically undetectable and the outgrowth of dormant tumor cells into overt metastases is responsible for cancer-associated deaths. However, the dormancy-related molecular mechanism has not been clearly described. Some researchers have proposed that cancer stem cells (CSCs) and disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) can be seen as progenitor cells of tumor dormancy, both of which can remain dormant in a non-permissive soil/niche. Nowadays, research interest in the cancer biology field is skyrocketing as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are capable of regulating tumor dormancy, which will provide a unique therapeutic window to cure cancer. Although the influence of MSCs on tumor dormancy has been investigated in previous studies, there is no thorough review on the relationship between MSCs and tumor dormancy. In this paper, the root of tumor dormancy is analyzed and dormancy-related molecular mechanisms are summarized. With an emphasis on the role of the MSCs during tumor dormancy, new therapeutic strategies to prevent metastatic disease are proposed, whose clinical application potentials are discussed, and some challenges and prospects of the studies of tumor dormancy are also described.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linxian Zhao
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Kai Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Hongyu He
- Operating Theater and Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Yongping Yang
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Wei Li
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Tongjun Liu
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Jiannan Li
- Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
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15
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Chick Embryo Experimental Platform for Micrometastases Research in a 3D Tissue Engineering Model: Cancer Biology, Drug Development, and Nanotechnology Applications. Biomedicines 2021; 9:biomedicines9111578. [PMID: 34829808 PMCID: PMC8615510 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9111578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2021] [Revised: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Colonization of distant organs by tumor cells is a critical step of cancer progression. The initial avascular stage of this process (micrometastasis) remains almost inaccessible to study due to the lack of relevant experimental approaches. Herein, we introduce an in vitro/in vivo model of organ-specific micrometastases of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that is fully implemented in a cost-efficient chick embryo (CE) experimental platform. The model was built as three-dimensional (3D) tissue engineering constructs (TECs) combining human MDA-MB-231 cells and decellularized CE organ-specific scaffolds. TNBC cells colonized CE organ-specific scaffolds in 2–3 weeks, forming tissue-like structures. The feasibility of this methodology for basic cancer research, drug development, and nanomedicine was demonstrated on a model of hepatic micrometastasis of TNBC. We revealed that MDA-MB-231 differentially colonize parenchymal and stromal compartments of the liver-specific extracellular matrix (LS-ECM) and become more resistant to the treatment with molecular doxorubicin (Dox) and Dox-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles than in monolayer cultures. When grafted on CE chorioallantoic membrane, LS-ECM-based TECs induced angiogenic switch. These findings may have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of TNBC. The methodology established here is scalable and adaptable for pharmacological testing and cancer biology research of various metastatic and primary tumors.
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Sphabmixay P, Raredon MSB, Wang AJS, Lee H, Hammond PT, Fang NX, Griffith LG. High resolution stereolithography fabrication of perfusable scaffolds to enable long-term meso-scale hepatic culture for disease modeling. Biofabrication 2021; 13. [PMID: 34479229 DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/ac23aa] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Microphysiological systems (MPS), comprising human cell cultured in formats that capture features of the three-dimensional (3D) microenvironments of native human organs under microperfusion, are promising tools for biomedical research. Here we report the development of a mesoscale physiological system (MePS) enabling the long-term 3D perfused culture of primary human hepatocytes at scales of over 106cells per MPS. A central feature of the MePS, which employs a commercially-available multiwell bioreactor for perfusion, is a novel scaffold comprising a dense network of nano- and micro-porous polymer channels, designed to provide appropriate convective and diffusive mass transfer of oxygen and other nutrients while maintaining physiological values of shear stress. The scaffold design is realized by a high resolution stereolithography fabrication process employing a novel resin. This new culture system sustains mesoscopic hepatic tissue-like cultures with greater hepatic functionality (assessed by albumin and urea synthesis, and CYP3A4 activity) and lower inflammation markers compared to comparable cultures on the commercial polystyrene scaffold. To illustrate applications to disease modeling, we established an insulin-resistant phenotype by exposing liver cells to hyperglycemic and hyperinsulinemic media. Future applications of the MePS include the co-culture of hepatocytes with resident immune cells and the integration with multiple organs to model complex liver-associated diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Sphabmixay
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America.,Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
| | - Micha Sam Brickman Raredon
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America.,Vascular Biology and Therapeutics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America
| | - Alex J-S Wang
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
| | - Howon Lee
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
| | - Paula T Hammond
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America.,Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
| | - Nicholas X Fang
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
| | - Linda G Griffith
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America.,Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America.,Center for Gynepathology Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
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17
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Life after Cell Death-Survival and Survivorship Following Chemotherapy. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13122942. [PMID: 34208331 PMCID: PMC8231100 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13122942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Revised: 06/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Treatment of aggressive cancers often relies on chemotherapy. This treatment has improved survival rates, but while effective at killing cancer cells, inevitably it also kills or alters the function of others. While many of the known effects are transient and resolve after treatment, as survival rates increase, so does our understanding of the long-term health costs that accompany cancer survivors. Here we provide an overview of common long-term morbidities known to be caused by conventional chemotherapy, including the risk of relapse, but more importantly, the cost of quality of life experienced, especially by those who have cancer in early life. We aim to highlight the importance of the development of targeted therapies to replace the use of conventional chemotherapy, but also that of treating the patients along with the disease to enable not only longer but also healthier life after cancer. Abstract To prevent cancer cells replacing and outnumbering their functional somatic counterparts, the most effective solution is their removal. Classical treatments rely on surgical excision, chemical or physical damage to the cancer cells by conventional interventions such as chemo- and radiotherapy, to eliminate or reduce tumour burden. Cancer treatment has in the last two decades seen the advent of increasingly sophisticated therapeutic regimens aimed at selectively targeting cancer cells whilst sparing the remaining cells from severe loss of viability or function. These include small molecule inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies and a myriad of compounds that affect metabolism, angiogenesis or immunotherapy. Our increased knowledge of specific cancer types, stratified diagnoses, genetic and molecular profiling, and more refined treatment practices have improved overall survival in a significant number of patients. Increased survival, however, has also increased the incidence of associated challenges of chemotherapy-induced morbidity, with some pathologies developing several years after termination of treatment. Long-term care of cancer survivors must therefore become a focus in itself, such that along with prolonging life expectancy, treatments allow for improved quality of life.
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18
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Clark AM, Allbritton NL, Wells A. Integrative microphysiological tissue systems of cancer metastasis to the liver. Semin Cancer Biol 2021; 71:157-169. [PMID: 32580025 PMCID: PMC7750290 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2020.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2020] [Revised: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The liver is the most commonly involved organ in metastases from a wide variety of solid tumors. The use of biologically and cellularly complex liver tissue systems have shown that tumor cell behavior and therapeutic responses are modulated within the liver microenvironment and in ways distinct from the behaviors in the primary locations. These microphysiological systems have provided unexpected and powerful insights into the tumor cell biology of metastasis. However, neither the tumor nor the liver exist in an isolated tissue situation, having to function within a complete body and respond to systemic events as well as those in other organs. To examine the influence of one organ on the function of other tissues, microphysiological systems are being linked. Herein, we discuss extending this concept to tumor metastases by integrating complex models of the primary tumor with the liver metastatic environment. In addition, inflammatory organs and the immune system can be incorporated into these multi-organ systems to probe the effects on tumor behavior and cancer treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda M Clark
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA; UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
| | - Nancy L Allbritton
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Alan Wells
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA; UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA; Department of Computational & Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
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19
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Clark AM, Heusey HL, Griffith LG, Lauffenburger DA, Wells A. IP-10 (CXCL10) Can Trigger Emergence of Dormant Breast Cancer Cells in a Metastatic Liver Microenvironment. Front Oncol 2021; 11:676135. [PMID: 34123844 PMCID: PMC8190328 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.676135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Accepted: 04/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Metastatic breast cancer remains a largely incurable and fatal disease with liver involvement bearing the worst prognosis. The danger is compounded by a subset of disseminated tumor cells that may lie dormant for years to decades before re-emerging as clinically detectable metastases. Pathophysiological signals can drive these tumor cells to emerge. Prior studies indicated CXCR3 ligands as being the predominant signals synergistically and significantly unregulated during inflammation in the gut-liver axis. Of the CXCR3 ligands, IP-10 (CXCL10) was the most abundant, correlated significantly with shortened survival of human breast cancer patients with metastatic disease and was highest in those with triple negative (TNBC) disease. Using a complex ex vivo all-human liver microphysiological (MPS) model of dormant-emergent metastatic progression, CXCR3 ligands were found to be elevated in actively growing populations of metastatic TNBC breast cancer cells whereas they remained similar to the tumor-free hepatic niche in those with dormant breast cancer cells. Subsequent stimulation of dormant breast cancer cells in the ex vivo metastatic liver MPS model with IP-10 triggered their emergence in a dose-dependent manner. Emergence was indicated to occur indirectly possibly via activation of the resident liver cells in the surrounding metastatic microenvironment, as stimulation of breast cancer cells with exogenous IP-10 did not significantly change their migratory, invasive or proliferative behavior. The findings reveal that IP-10 is capable of triggering the emergence of dormant breast cancer cells within the liver metastatic niche and identifies the IP-10/CXCR3 as a candidate targetable pathway for rational approaches aimed at maintaining dormancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda M. Clark
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Pittsburgh VA Medical Center, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Haley L. Heusey
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Pittsburgh VA Medical Center, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Linda G. Griffith
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Douglas. A. Lauffenburger
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Alan Wells
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Pittsburgh VA Medical Center, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
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20
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Preciado J, Lam T, Azarin SM, Lou E, Aksan A. Induction of dormancy by confinement: An agarose-silica biomaterial for isolating and analyzing dormant cancer cells. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater 2021; 109:2117-2130. [PMID: 33983681 DOI: 10.1002/jbm.b.34859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Revised: 04/12/2021] [Accepted: 04/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The principal cause of cancer deaths is the residual disease, which eventually results in metastases. Certain metastases are induced by disseminated dormancy-capable single cancer cells that can reside within the body undetected for months to years. Awakening of the dormant cells starts a cascade resulting in the patient's demise. Despite its established clinical significance, dormancy research and its clinical translation have been hindered by lack of in vitro models that can identify, isolate, and analyze dormancy-capable cells. We have previously shown that immobilization of cells in a stiff microenvironment induces dormancy in dormancy-capable cell lines. In this communication, we present a novel biomaterial and an in vitro immobilization method to isolate, analyze, and efficiently recover dormancy-capable cancer cells. MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and MDA-MB-468 cells were individually coated with agarose using a microfluidic flow-focusing device. Coated cells were then immobilized in a rigid and porous silica gel. Dormancy induction by this process was validated by decreased Ki-67 expression, increased p38/ERK activity ratio, and reduced expression of CDK-2, cyclins D1, and E1. We showed that we can reliably and repeatedly induce dormancy in dormancy-capable MCF-7 cells and enhance the dormancy-capable sub-population in MDA-MB-231 cells. As expected, dormancy-resistant MDA-MB-468 cells did not survive immobilization. The dormant cells could be awakened on demand, by digesting the agarose gel in situ, and efficiently recovered by magnetically separating the silica gel, making the cells available for downstream analysis and testing. The awakened cells were shown to regain motility immediately, proliferating, and migrating normally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian Preciado
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Tiffany Lam
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Samira M Azarin
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Emil Lou
- Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Alptekin Aksan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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21
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Gough A, Soto-Gutierrez A, Vernetti L, Ebrahimkhani MR, Stern AM, Taylor DL. Human biomimetic liver microphysiology systems in drug development and precision medicine. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 2021; 18:252-268. [PMID: 33335282 PMCID: PMC9106093 DOI: 10.1038/s41575-020-00386-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Microphysiology systems (MPS), also called organs-on-chips and tissue chips, are miniaturized functional units of organs constructed with multiple cell types under a variety of physical and biochemical environmental cues that complement animal models as part of a new paradigm of drug discovery and development. Biomimetic human liver MPS have evolved from simpler 2D cell models, spheroids and organoids to address the increasing need to understand patient-specific mechanisms of complex and rare diseases, the response to therapeutic treatments, and the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity of potential therapeutics. The parallel development and application of transdisciplinary technologies, including microfluidic devices, bioprinting, engineered matrix materials, defined physiological and pathophysiological media, patient-derived primary cells, and pluripotent stem cells as well as synthetic biology to engineer cell genes and functions, have created the potential to produce patient-specific, biomimetic MPS for detailed mechanistic studies. It is projected that success in the development and maturation of patient-derived MPS with known genotypes and fully matured adult phenotypes will lead to advanced applications in precision medicine. In this Review, we examine human biomimetic liver MPS that are designed to recapitulate the liver acinus structure and functions to enhance our knowledge of the mechanisms of disease progression and of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity of therapeutic candidates and drugs as well as to evaluate their mechanisms of action and their application in precision medicine and preclinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Gough
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Alejandro Soto-Gutierrez
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Lawrence Vernetti
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Mo R Ebrahimkhani
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Andrew M Stern
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - D Lansing Taylor
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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22
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Dai L, Li M, Zhang WL, Tang YJ, Tang YL, Liang XH. Fibroblasts in cancer dormancy: foe or friend? Cancer Cell Int 2021; 21:184. [PMID: 33771156 PMCID: PMC7995785 DOI: 10.1186/s12935-021-01883-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer dormancy is defined that the residual cancer cells could enter into a state of quiescence and patients remain asymptomatic for years or even decades after anti-tumor therapies. Fibroblasts, which represent a predominant cell type in tumor microenvironment, play a pivotal role in determining the ultimate fate of tumor cells. This review recapitulates the pleiotropic roles of fibroblasts which are divided into normal, senescent, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and circulation CAFs in tumor dormancy, relapse, metastasis and resistance to therapy to help the treatment of cancer metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Dai
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Mao Li
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Wei-long Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Ya-Jie Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 China
| | - Ya-ling Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Xin-hua Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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23
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Abstract
Cancer mortality predominantly results from distant metastases that are undetectable at diagnosis and escape initial therapies to lie as dormant micrometastases for years. To study the behavior of micrometastases-how they resist initial treatments and then awaken from a dormant state-we utilize the Legacy LiverChip®, an all-human ex vivo hepatic microphysiological system. The functional liver bioreactor, comprising hepatocytes and non-parenchymal cells in a 3D microperfused culture format, mimics the dormant-emergent metastatic progression observed in human patients: (a) a subpopulation of cancer cells spontaneously enter dormancy, (b) cycling cells are eliminated by standard chemotherapies, while quiescent dormant cells remain, and (c) chemoresistant dormant cells can be stimulated to emerge. The system effluent and tissue can be queried for proteomic and genomic data, immunofluorescent imaging as well as drug efficacy and metabolism. This microphysiological system continues to provide critical insights into the biology of dormant and re-emergent micrometastases and serves as an accessible tool to identify new therapeutic strategies targeting the various stages of metastasis, while concurrently evaluating antineoplastic agent efficacy for metastasis, metabolism, and dose-limiting toxicity.
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24
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Sistigu A, Musella M, Galassi C, Vitale I, De Maria R. Tuning Cancer Fate: Tumor Microenvironment's Role in Cancer Stem Cell Quiescence and Reawakening. Front Immunol 2020; 11:2166. [PMID: 33193295 PMCID: PMC7609361 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.02166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer cell dormancy is a common feature of human tumors and represents a major clinical barrier to the long-term efficacy of anticancer therapies. Dormant cancer cells, either in primary tumors or disseminated in secondary organs, may reawaken and relapse into a more aggressive disease. The mechanisms underpinning dormancy entry and exit strongly resemble those governing cancer cell stemness and include intrinsic and contextual cues. Cellular and molecular components of the tumor microenvironment persistently interact with cancer cells. This dialog is highly dynamic, as it evolves over time and space, strongly cooperates with intrinsic cell nets, and governs cancer cell features (like quiescence and stemness) and fate (survival and outgrowth). Therefore, there is a need for deeper insight into the biology of dormant cancer (stem) cells and the mechanisms regulating the equilibrium quiescence-versus-proliferation are vital in our pursuit of new therapeutic opportunities to prevent cancer from recurring. Here, we review and discuss microenvironmental regulations of cancer dormancy and its parallels with cancer stemness, and offer insights into the therapeutic strategies adopted to prevent a lethal recurrence, by either eradicating resident dormant cancer (stem) cells or maintaining them in a dormant state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonella Sistigu
- Istituto di Patologia Generale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.,Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy Unit, IRCCS Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy
| | - Martina Musella
- Istituto di Patologia Generale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Claudia Galassi
- Istituto di Patologia Generale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Ilio Vitale
- IIGM - Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine, c/o IRCSS Candiolo (TO), Candiolo, Italy.,Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO - IRCCS, Candiolo, Italy
| | - Ruggero De Maria
- Istituto di Patologia Generale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.,Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli" - IRCCS, Rome, Italy
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25
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A Perspective on Therapeutic Pan-Resistance in Metastatic Cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21197304. [PMID: 33022920 PMCID: PMC7582598 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21197304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2020] [Revised: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 10/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Metastatic spread represents the leading cause of disease-related mortality among cancer patients. Many cancer patients suffer from metastatic relapse years or even decades after radical surgery for the primary tumor. This clinical phenomenon is explained by the early dissemination of cancer cells followed by a long period of dormancy. Although dormancy could be viewed as a window of opportunity for therapeutic interventions, dormant disseminated cancer cells and micrometastases, as well as emergent outgrowing macrometastases, exhibit a generalized, innate resistance to chemotherapy and even immunotherapy. This therapeutic pan-resistance, on top of other adaptive responses to targeted agents such as acquired mutations and lineage plasticity, underpins the current difficulties in eradicating cancer. In the present review, we attempt to provide a framework to understand the underlying biology of this major issue.
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26
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Low LA, Mummery C, Berridge BR, Austin CP, Tagle DA. Organs-on-chips: into the next decade. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2020; 20:345-361. [PMID: 32913334 DOI: 10.1038/s41573-020-0079-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 391] [Impact Index Per Article: 97.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/08/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Organs-on-chips (OoCs), also known as microphysiological systems or 'tissue chips' (the terms are synonymous), have attracted substantial interest in recent years owing to their potential to be informative at multiple stages of the drug discovery and development process. These innovative devices could provide insights into normal human organ function and disease pathophysiology, as well as more accurately predict the safety and efficacy of investigational drugs in humans. Therefore, they are likely to become useful additions to traditional preclinical cell culture methods and in vivo animal studies in the near term, and in some cases replacements for them in the longer term. In the past decade, the OoC field has seen dramatic advances in the sophistication of biology and engineering, in the demonstration of physiological relevance and in the range of applications. These advances have also revealed new challenges and opportunities, and expertise from multiple biomedical and engineering fields will be needed to fully realize the promise of OoCs for fundamental and translational applications. This Review provides a snapshot of this fast-evolving technology, discusses current applications and caveats for their implementation, and offers suggestions for directions in the next decade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucie A Low
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Christine Mummery
- Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.,University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands
| | - Brian R Berridge
- National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Christopher P Austin
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Danilo A Tagle
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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27
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Narkhede AA, Crenshaw JH, Crossman DK, Shevde LA, Rao SS. An in vitro hyaluronic acid hydrogel based platform to model dormancy in brain metastatic breast cancer cells. Acta Biomater 2020; 107:65-77. [PMID: 32119920 DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2020.02.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2019] [Revised: 02/19/2020] [Accepted: 02/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Breast cancer cells (BCCs) can remain dormant at the metastatic site, which when revoked leads to formation of metastasis several years after the treatment of primary tumor. Particularly, awakening of dormant BCCs in the brain results in breast cancer brain metastasis (BCBrM) which marks the most advanced stage of the disease with a median survival period of ~4-16 months. However, our understanding of dormancy associated with BCBrM remains obscure, in part, due to the lack of relevant in vitro platforms to model dormancy associated with BCBrM. To address this need, we developed an in vitro hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel platform to model dormancy in brain metastatic BCCs via exploiting the bio-physical cues provided by HA hydrogels while bracketing the normal brain and metastatic brain malignancy relevant stiffness range. In this system, we observed that MDA-MB-231Br and BT474Br3 brain metastatic BCCs exhibited a dormant phenotype when cultured on soft (0.4 kPa) HA hydrogel compared to stiff (4.5 kPa) HA hydrogel as characterized by significantly lower EdU and Ki67 positivity. Further, we demonstrated the nuclear localization of p21 and p27 (markers associated with dormancy) in dormant MDA-MB-231Br cells contrary to their cytoplasmic localization in the proliferative population. We also demonstrated that the stiffness-based dormancy in MDA-MB-231Br cells was reversible and was, in part, mediated by focal adhesion kinases and the initial cell seeding density. Finally, RNA sequencing confirmed the dormant phenotype in MDA-MB-231Br cells. This platform could further our understanding of dormancy in BCBrM and could be adapted for anti-metastatic drug screening. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Our understanding of dormancy associated with BCBrM remains obscure, in part, due to the lack of relevant in vitro platforms to model dormancy associated with BCBrM. Herein, we present a HA hydrogel-based platform to model dormancy in brain metastatic BCCs while recapitulating key aspects of brain microenvironment. We demonstrated that the biophysical cues provided the HA hydrogel mediates dormancy in brain metastatic BCCs by assessing both proliferation and cell cycle arrest markers. We also established the role of focal adhesion kinases and initial cell seeding density in the stiffness-mediated dormancy in brain metastatic BCCs. Further, RNA-seq. confirmed the dormant phenotype in brain metastatic BCCs. This platform could be utilized to further our understanding of microenvironmental regulation of dormancy in BCBrM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akshay A Narkhede
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0203, USA
| | - James H Crenshaw
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0203, USA
| | - David K Crossman
- Department of Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Lalita A Shevde
- Department of Pathology, O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Shreyas S Rao
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0203, USA.
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28
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Montagner M, Sahai E. In vitro Models of Breast Cancer Metastatic Dormancy. Front Cell Dev Biol 2020; 8:37. [PMID: 32195244 PMCID: PMC7062644 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 01/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Delayed relapses at distant sites are a common clinical observation for certain types of cancers after removal of primary tumor, such as breast and prostate cancer. This evidence has been explained by postulating a long period during which disseminated cancer cells (DCCs) survive in a foreign environment without developing into overt metastasis. Because of the asymptomatic nature of this phenomenon, isolation, and analysis of disseminated dormant cancer cells from clinically disease-free patients is ethically and technically highly problematic and currently these data are largely limited to the bone marrow. That said, detecting, profiling and treating indolent metastatic lesions before the onset of relapse is the imperative. To overcome this major limitation many laboratories developed in vitro models of the metastatic niche for different organs and different types of cancers. In this review we focus specifically on in vitro models designed to study metastatic dormancy of breast cancer cells (BCCs). We provide an overview of the BCCs employed in the different organotypic systems and address the components of the metastatic microenvironment that have been shown to impact on the dormant phenotype: tissue architecture, stromal cells, biochemical environment, oxygen levels, cell density. A brief description of the organ-specific in vitro models for bone, liver, and lung is provided. Finally, we discuss the strategies employed so far for the validation of the different systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Montagner
- Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Erik Sahai
- The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
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29
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Ma B, Khazali A, Shao H, Jiang Y, Wells A. Expression of E-cadherin and specific CXCR3 isoforms impact each other in prostate cancer. Cell Commun Signal 2019; 17:164. [PMID: 31831069 PMCID: PMC6909607 DOI: 10.1186/s12964-019-0489-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2019] [Accepted: 11/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Carcinoma cells shift between epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypes during cancer progression, as defined by surface presentation of the cell-cell cohesion molecule E-cadherin, affecting dissemination, progression and therapy responsiveness. Concomitant with the loss of E-cadherin during the mesenchymal transition, the predominant receptor isoform for ELR-negative CXC ligands shifts from CXCR3-B to CXCR3-A which turns this classical G-protein coupled receptor from an inhibitor to an activator of cell migration, thus promoting tumor cell invasiveness. We proposed that CXCR3 was not just a coordinately changed receptor but actually a regulator of the cell phenotype. Methods Immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, quantitative real-time PCR and flow cytometry assays investigated the expression of E-cadherin and CXCR3 isoforms. Intrasplenic inoculation of human prostate cancer (PCa) cells with spontaneous metastasis to the liver analyzed E-cadherin and CXCR3-B expression during cancer progression in vivo. Results We found reciprocal regulation of E-cadherin and CXCR3 isoforms. E-cadherin surface expression promoted CXCR3-B presentation on the cell membrane, and to a lesser extent increased its mRNA and total protein levels. In turn, forced expression of CXCR3-A reduced E-cadherin expression level, whereas CXCR3-B increased E-cadherin in PCa. Meanwhile, a positive correlation of E-cadherin and CXCR3-B expression was found both in experimental PCa liver micro-metastases and patients’ tissue. Conclusions CXCR3-B and E-cadherin positively correlated in vitro and in vivo in PCa cells and liver metastases, whereas CXCR3-A negatively regulated E-cadherin expression. These results suggest that CXCR3 isoforms may play important roles in cancer progression and dissemination via diametrically regulating tumor’s phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Ma
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, S713 Scaife Hall, 3550 Terrace St, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA. .,Jiangsu Center for the Collaboration and Innovation of Cancer Biotherapy, Cancer Institute, Xuzhou Medical University, 84 Huaihai Xi Road, Quanshan, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, 221002, People's Republic of China. .,Pittsburgh VA Medical Center, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, USA.
| | - Ahmad Khazali
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, S713 Scaife Hall, 3550 Terrace St, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA.,Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Hanshuang Shao
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, S713 Scaife Hall, 3550 Terrace St, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA
| | - Yuhan Jiang
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, S713 Scaife Hall, 3550 Terrace St, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA.,School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Alan Wells
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, S713 Scaife Hall, 3550 Terrace St, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA. .,Pittsburgh VA Medical Center, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, USA. .,McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. .,UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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30
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Hsu CW, Chang KP, Huang Y, Liu HP, Hsueh PC, Gu PW, Yen WC, Wu CC. Proteomic Profiling of Paired Interstitial Fluids Reveals Dysregulated Pathways and Salivary NID1 as a Biomarker of Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Mol Cell Proteomics 2019; 18:1939-1949. [PMID: 31315917 PMCID: PMC6773556 DOI: 10.1074/mcp.ra119.001654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are frequently first diagnosed at an advanced stage, leading to poor prognosis and high mortality rates. Early detection of OSCC using body fluid-accessible biomarkers may improve the prognosis and survival rate of OSCC patients. As tumor interstitial fluid is a proximal fluid enriched with cancer-related proteins, it is a useful reservoir suitable for the discovery of cancer biomarkers and dysregulated biological pathways in tumor microenvironments. Thus, paired interstitial fluids of tumor (TIF) and adjacent noncancerous (NIF) tissues from 10 OSCC patients were harvested and analyzed using one-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GeLC-MS/MS). Using label-free spectral counting-based quantification, 113 proteins were found to be up-regulated in the TIFs compared with the NIFs. The gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that the differentially expressed TIF proteins were highly associated with aminoacyl tRNA biosynthesis pathway. The elevated levels of 4 proteins (IARS, KARS, WARS, and YARS) involved in the aminoacyl tRNA biosynthesis were verified in the OSCC tissues with immunohistochemistry (IHC). In addition, nidogen-1 (NID1) was selected for verification as an OSCC biomarker. Salivary level of NID1 in OSCC patients (n = 48) was significantly higher than that in the healthy individuals (n = 51) and subjects with oral potentially malignant disorder (OPMD; n = 53). IHC analysis showed that NID1 level in OSCC tissues was increased compared with adjacent noncancerous epithelium (n = 222). Importantly, the elevated NID1 level was correlated with the advanced stages of OSCC, as well as the poor survival of OSCC patients. Collectively, the results suggested that TIF analysis facilitates understanding of the OSCC microenvironment and that salivary NID1 may be a useful biomarker for OSCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chia-Wei Hsu
- Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
| | - Kai-Ping Chang
- Molecular Medicine Research Center, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan; Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan 33305, Taiwan
| | - Yenlin Huang
- Department of Pathology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan 33305, Taiwan
| | - Hao-Ping Liu
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan
| | - Pei-Chun Hsueh
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan
| | - Po-Wen Gu
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan; Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan 33305, Taiwan; Department of Medical Biotechnology and Laboratory Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan
| | - Wei-Chen Yen
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan
| | - Chih-Ching Wu
- Molecular Medicine Research Center, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan; Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan 33305, Taiwan; Department of Medical Biotechnology and Laboratory Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan; Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan.
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31
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Suhail Y, Cain MP, Vanaja K, Kurywchak PA, Levchenko A, Kalluri R, Kshitiz. Systems Biology of Cancer Metastasis. Cell Syst 2019; 9:109-127. [PMID: 31465728 PMCID: PMC6716621 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2019.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 229] [Impact Index Per Article: 45.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2018] [Revised: 04/29/2019] [Accepted: 06/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Cancer metastasis is no longer viewed as a linear cascade of events but rather as a series of concurrent, partially overlapping processes, as successfully metastasizing cells assume new phenotypes while jettisoning older behaviors. The lack of a systemic understanding of this complex phenomenon has limited progress in developing treatments for metastatic disease. Because metastasis has traditionally been investigated in distinct physiological compartments, the integration of these complex and interlinked aspects remains a challenge for both systems-level experimental and computational modeling of metastasis. Here, we present some of the current perspectives on the complexity of cancer metastasis, the multiscale nature of its progression, and a systems-level view of the processes underlying the invasive spread of cancer cells. We also highlight the gaps in our current understanding of cancer metastasis as well as insights emerging from interdisciplinary systems biology approaches to understand this complex phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasir Suhail
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA; Cancer Systems Biology @ Yale (CaSB@Yale), Yale University, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Margo P Cain
- Department of Cancer Biology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Kiran Vanaja
- Cancer Systems Biology @ Yale (CaSB@Yale), Yale University, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Paul A Kurywchak
- Department of Cancer Biology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Andre Levchenko
- Cancer Systems Biology @ Yale (CaSB@Yale), Yale University, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Raghu Kalluri
- Department of Cancer Biology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Kshitiz
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA; Cancer Systems Biology @ Yale (CaSB@Yale), Yale University, West Haven, CT, USA.
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32
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Jahanban-Esfahlan R, Seidi K, Manjili MH, Jahanban-Esfahlan A, Javaheri T, Zare P. Tumor Cell Dormancy: Threat or Opportunity in the Fight against Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2019; 11:cancers11081207. [PMID: 31430951 PMCID: PMC6721805 DOI: 10.3390/cancers11081207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Revised: 08/11/2019] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Tumor dormancy, a clinically undetectable state of cancer, makes a major contribution to the development of multidrug resistance (MDR), minimum residual disease (MRD), tumor outgrowth, cancer relapse, and metastasis. Despite its high incidence, the whole picture of dormancy-regulated molecular programs is far from clear. That is, it is unknown when and which dormant cells will resume proliferation causing late relapse, and which will remain asymptomatic and harmless to their hosts. Thus, identification of dormancy-related culprits and understanding their roles can help predict cancer prognosis and may increase the probability of timely therapeutic intervention for the desired outcome. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the dormancy-dictated molecular mechanisms, including angiogenic switch, immune escape, cancer stem cells, extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, metabolic reprogramming, miRNAs, epigenetic modifications, and stress-induced p38 signaling pathways. Further, we analyze the possibility of leveraging these dormancy-related molecular cues to outmaneuver cancer and discuss the implications of such approaches in cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rana Jahanban-Esfahlan
- Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 9841, Iran
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 9841, Iran
- Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 9841, Iran
| | - Khaled Seidi
- Biotechnology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 9841, Iran
| | - Masoud H Manjili
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, VCU School of Medicine, Massey Cancer Center, Richmond, VA 23298, USA
| | | | - Tahereh Javaheri
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Peyman Zare
- Faculty of Medicine, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, 01-938 Warsaw, Poland.
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33
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Ma B, Wells A, Clark AM. The pan-therapeutic resistance of disseminated tumor cells: Role of phenotypic plasticity and the metastatic microenvironment. Semin Cancer Biol 2019; 60:138-147. [PMID: 31376430 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2019.07.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2019] [Revised: 07/25/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Cancer metastasis is the leading cause of mortality in patients with solid tumors. The majority of these deaths are associated with metastatic disease that occurs after a period of clinical remission, anywhere from months to decades following removal of the primary mass. This dormancy is prominent in cancers of the breast and prostate among others, leaving the survivors uncertain about their longer-term prognosis. The most daunting aspect of this dormancy and re-emergence is that the micrometastases in particular, and even large lethal outgrowths are often show resistance to agents to which they have not been exposed. This suggests that in addition to specific mutations that target single agents, there also exist adaptive mechanisms that provide this pan-resistance. Potential molecular underpinnings of which are the topic of this review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Ma
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Alan Wells
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA; Department of Computational & Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA; UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Amanda M Clark
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA; VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
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34
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Miedel MT, Gavlock DC, Jia S, Gough A, Taylor DL, Stern AM. Modeling the Effect of the Metastatic Microenvironment on Phenotypes Conferred by Estrogen Receptor Mutations Using a Human Liver Microphysiological System. Sci Rep 2019; 9:8341. [PMID: 31171849 PMCID: PMC6554298 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44756-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Reciprocal coevolution of tumors and their microenvironments underlies disease progression, yet intrinsic limitations of patient-derived xenografts and simpler cell-based models present challenges towards a deeper understanding of these intercellular communication networks. To help overcome these barriers and complement existing models, we have developed a human microphysiological system (MPS) model of the human liver acinus, a common metastatic site, and have applied this system to estrogen receptor (ER)+ breast cancer. In addition to their hallmark constitutive (but ER-dependent) growth phenotype, different ESR1 missense mutations, prominently observed during estrogen deprivation therapy, confer distinct estrogen-enhanced growth and drug resistant phenotypes not evident under cell autonomous conditions. Under low molecular oxygen within the physiological range (~5–20%) of the normal liver acinus, the estrogen-enhanced growth phenotypes are lost, a dependency not observed in monoculture. In contrast, the constitutive growth phenotypes are invariant within this range of molecular oxygen suggesting that ESR1 mutations confer a growth advantage not only during estrogen deprivation but also at lower oxygen levels. We discuss the prospects and limitations of implementing human MPS, especially in conjunction with in situ single cell hyperplexed computational pathology platforms, to identify biomarkers mechanistically linked to disease progression that inform optimal therapeutic strategies for patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark T Miedel
- Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.,Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Dillon C Gavlock
- Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.,Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Shanhang Jia
- Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.,School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Albert Gough
- Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.,Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - D Lansing Taylor
- Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. .,Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. .,University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Andrew M Stern
- Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. .,Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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35
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Jiang Y, Wells A, Sylakowski K, Clark AM, Ma B. Adult Stem Cell Functioning in the Tumor Micro-Environment. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20102566. [PMID: 31130595 PMCID: PMC6566759 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20102566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2019] [Revised: 05/18/2019] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Tumor progression from an expanded cell population in a primary location to disseminated lethal growths subverts attempts at cures. It has become evident that these steps are driven in a large part by cancer cell-extrinsic signaling from the tumor microenvironment (TME), one cellular component of which is becoming more appreciated for potential modulation of the cancer cells directly and the TME globally. That cell is a heterogenous population referred to as adult mesenchymal stem cells/multipotent stromal cells (MSCs). Herein, we review emerging evidence as to how these cells, both from distant sources, mainly the bone marrow, or local resident cells, can impact the progression of solid tumors. These nascent investigations raise more questions than they answer but paint a picture of an orchestrated web of signals and interactions that can be modulated to impact tumor progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhan Jiang
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
- School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
| | - Alan Wells
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
- Department of Computational & Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
- UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
- VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
| | - Kyle Sylakowski
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
- VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
| | - Amanda M Clark
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
- VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
| | - Bo Ma
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
- VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
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36
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Rao SS, Kondapaneni RV, Narkhede AA. Bioengineered models to study tumor dormancy. J Biol Eng 2019; 13:3. [PMID: 30647771 PMCID: PMC6327399 DOI: 10.1186/s13036-018-0137-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 12/27/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The onset of cancer metastasis is the defining event in cancer progression when the disease is considered lethal. The ability of metastatic cancer cells to stay dormant for extended time periods and reawaken at later stages leading to disease recurrence makes treatment of metastatic disease extremely challenging. The tumor microenvironment plays a critical role in deciding the ultimate fate of tumor cells, yet the mechanisms by which this occurs, including dormancy, is not well understood. This mini-review discusses bioengineered models inspired from tissue engineering strategies that mimic key aspects of the tumor microenvironment to study tumor dormancy. These models include biomaterial based three dimensional models, microfluidic based models, as well as bioreactor based models that incorporate relevant microenvironmental components such as extracellular matrix molecules, niche cells, or their combination to study microenvironmental regulation of tumor dormancy. Such biomimetic models provide suitable platforms to investigate the dormant niche, including cues that drive the dormant to proliferative transition in cancer cells. In addition, the potential of such model systems to advance research in the field of tumor dormancy is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shreyas S. Rao
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0203 USA
| | - Raghu Vamsi Kondapaneni
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0203 USA
| | - Akshay A. Narkhede
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0203 USA
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37
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Wells A, Clark A, Bradshaw A, Ma B, Edington H. The great escape: How metastases of melanoma, and other carcinomas, avoid elimination. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2019; 243:1245-1255. [PMID: 30764707 DOI: 10.1177/1535370218820287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
IMPACT STATEMENT Cancers kill mainly because metastatic disease is resistant to systemic therapies. It was hoped that newer targeted and immunomodulatory interventions could overcome these issues. However, recent findings point to a generalized resistance to elimination imparted by both cancer-intrinsic and -extrinsic changes to provide survival advantages to the disseminated tumor cells. Here, we present a novel conceptual framework for the microenvironmental inputs and changes that contribute to this generalized therapeutic resistance. In addition we address the issues of experimental systems in terms of studying this phenomenon with their advantages and limitations. This is meant to spur studies into this critical aspect of tumor progression that directly leads to cancer mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Wells
- 1 Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.,2 Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.,3 Pittsburgh VA Medical Center, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15240, USA.,4 McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.,5 Hillman Cancer Centers of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA
| | - Amanda Clark
- 1 Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Andrew Bradshaw
- 1 Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.,3 Pittsburgh VA Medical Center, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15240, USA
| | - Bo Ma
- 1 Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.,3 Pittsburgh VA Medical Center, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA 15240, USA.,5 Hillman Cancer Centers of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA
| | - Howard Edington
- 6 Department of Surgery, Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA 15224, USA
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38
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Taylor DL, Gough A, Schurdak ME, Vernetti L, Chennubhotla CS, Lefever D, Pei F, Faeder JR, Lezon TR, Stern AM, Bahar I. Harnessing Human Microphysiology Systems as Key Experimental Models for Quantitative Systems Pharmacology. Handb Exp Pharmacol 2019; 260:327-367. [PMID: 31201557 PMCID: PMC6911651 DOI: 10.1007/164_2019_239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Two technologies that have emerged in the last decade offer a new paradigm for modern pharmacology, as well as drug discovery and development. Quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) is a complementary approach to traditional, target-centric pharmacology and drug discovery and is based on an iterative application of computational and systems biology methods with multiscale experimental methods, both of which include models of ADME-Tox and disease. QSP has emerged as a new approach due to the low efficiency of success in developing therapeutics based on the existing target-centric paradigm. Likewise, human microphysiology systems (MPS) are experimental models complementary to existing animal models and are based on the use of human primary cells, adult stem cells, and/or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to mimic human tissues and organ functions/structures involved in disease and ADME-Tox. Human MPS experimental models have been developed to address the relatively low concordance of human disease and ADME-Tox with engineered, experimental animal models of disease. The integration of the QSP paradigm with the use of human MPS has the potential to enhance the process of drug discovery and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Lansing Taylor
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Albert Gough
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Mark E Schurdak
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Lawrence Vernetti
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Chakra S Chennubhotla
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Daniel Lefever
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Fen Pei
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - James R Faeder
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Timothy R Lezon
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Andrew M Stern
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Ivet Bahar
- University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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39
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Pradhan S, Sperduto JL, Farino CJ, Slater JH. Engineered In Vitro Models of Tumor Dormancy and Reactivation. J Biol Eng 2018; 12:37. [PMID: 30603045 PMCID: PMC6307145 DOI: 10.1186/s13036-018-0120-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2018] [Accepted: 11/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Metastatic recurrence is a major hurdle to overcome for successful control of cancer-associated death. Residual tumor cells in the primary site, or disseminated tumor cells in secondary sites, can lie in a dormant state for long time periods, years to decades, before being reactivated into a proliferative growth state. The microenvironmental signals and biological mechanisms that mediate the fate of disseminated cancer cells with respect to cell death, single cell dormancy, tumor mass dormancy and metastatic growth, as well as the factors that induce reactivation, are discussed in this review. Emphasis is placed on engineered, in vitro, biomaterial-based approaches to model tumor dormancy and subsequent reactivation, with a focus on the roles of extracellular matrix, secondary cell types, biochemical signaling and drug treatment. A brief perspective of molecular targets and treatment approaches for dormant tumors is also presented. Advances in tissue-engineered platforms to induce, model, and monitor tumor dormancy and reactivation may provide much needed insight into the regulation of these processes and serve as drug discovery and testing platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shantanu Pradhan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy Street, 161 Colburn Lab, Newark, DE 19716 USA
| | - John L. Sperduto
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy Street, 161 Colburn Lab, Newark, DE 19716 USA
| | - Cindy J. Farino
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy Street, 161 Colburn Lab, Newark, DE 19716 USA
| | - John H. Slater
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy Street, 161 Colburn Lab, Newark, DE 19716 USA
- Delaware Biotechnology Institute, 15 Innovation Way, Newark, DE 19711 USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware, 201 DuPont Hall, Newark, DE 19716 USA
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Statins attenuate outgrowth of breast cancer metastases. Br J Cancer 2018; 119:1094-1105. [PMID: 30401978 PMCID: PMC6220112 DOI: 10.1038/s41416-018-0267-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2018] [Revised: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 08/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Metastasis in breast cancer foreshadows mortality, as clinically evident disease is aggressive and generally chemoresistant. Disseminated breast cancer cells often enter a period of dormancy for years to decades before they emerge as detectable cancers. Harboring of these dormant cells is not individually predictable, and available information suggests that these micrometastatic foci cannot be effectively targeted by existing therapies. As such, long-term, relatively non-toxic interventions that prevent metastatic outgrowth would be an advance in treatment. Epidemiological studies have found that statins reduce breast cancer specific mortality but not the incidence of primary cancer. However, the means by which statins reduce mortality without affecting primary tumor development remains unclear. Methods We examine statin efficacy against two breast cancer cell lines in models of breast cancer metastasis: a 2D in vitro co-culture model of breast cancer cell interaction with the liver, a 3D ex vivo microphysiological system model of breast cancer metastasis, and two independent mouse models of spontaneous breast cancer metastasis to the lung and liver, respectively. Results We demonstrate that statins can directly affect the proliferation of breast cancer cells, specifically at the metastatic site. In a 2D co-culture model of breast cancer cell interaction with the liver, we demonstrate that atorvastatin can directly suppress proliferation of mesenchymal but not epithelial breast cancer cells. Further, in an ex vivo 3D liver microphysiological system of breast cancer metastasis, we found that atorvastatin can block stimulated emergence of dormant breast cancer cells. In two independent models of spontaneous breast cancer metastasis to the liver and to the lung, we find that statins significantly reduce proliferation of the metastatic but not primary tumor cells. Conclusions As statins can block metastatic tumor outgrowth, they should be considered for use as long-term adjuvant drugs to delay clinical emergence and decrease mortality in breast cancer patients.
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