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Cancers
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The Extracellular Matrix in Cancer Ecosystems: Functional Contributions and Targeting...
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The Extracellular Matrix in Cancer Ecosystems: Functional Contributions and Targeting Opportunities

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Tumor Microenvironment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 3709

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Stephane Dedieu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CNRS UMR 7369 MEDyC, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France
Interests: cancer; extracellular matrix; tumor microenvironment; endocytosis; peptide-based therapeutic approaches
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a highly complex and dynamic structural network that encompasses cells, provides scaffolding for tissues, and acts as an essential regulator of cellular communication. It is now established that the ECM plays a major role at every step of cancer progression by affecting the behavior of cancer and stroma cells, which in turn influence the composition, organization, and stiffness of the ECM, particularly through remodeling activity. Many questions remain to be answered in order to decipher and characterize these bidirectional interfaces and to identify innovative therapeutic targets and/or biomarkers of clinical interest.

This Special Issue will highlight key research in this area. We will discuss major mechanistic advances in understanding the global role of the ECM in tumor progression and metastasis development, including how tumors escape current therapies. Biomarkers of interest may also be addressed, from extracellular proteases that are critical in matrix remodeling, to collagens, glycoproteins, proteoglycans, glycosaminoglycans or matricellular receptors.

A better understanding of the ECM in this malignant context requires the development of dedicated in vivo models, but also bioengineering model systems integrating biomaterials based on ECM components, associated with innovative characterization methods, notably based on omics, imaging or in silico approaches.

Finally, it will be critical to discuss innovative therapeutic strategies based on ECM targeting, and to examine how these approaches can be part of a precision medicine approach and complement current therapeutic revolutions such as immunotherapies that target the immune tumor microenvironment.

Prof. Dr. Stephane Dedieu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • extracellular matrix
  • cancer
  • tumor microenvironment
  • metastasis niche
  • matrix remodeling
  • biomedical bioengineering
  • matrix-derived biomarkers
  • therapeutic matrix targeted approach
  • matrix-based tumor models

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 873 KiB  
Article
Unsupervised Analysis Reveals the Involvement of Key Immune Response Genes and the Matrisome in Resistance to BRAF and MEK Inhibitors in Melanoma
by Feng Liu-Smith and Jianjian Lin
Cancers 2024, 16(13), 2313; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16132313 - 24 Jun 2024
Viewed by 623
Abstract
Melanoma tumors exhibit a wide range of heterogeneity in genomics even with shared mutations in the MAPK pathway, including BRAF mutations. Consistently, adaptive drug resistance to BRAF inhibitors and/or BRAF plus MEK inhibitors also exhibits a wide range of heterogeneous responses, which poses [...] Read more.
Melanoma tumors exhibit a wide range of heterogeneity in genomics even with shared mutations in the MAPK pathway, including BRAF mutations. Consistently, adaptive drug resistance to BRAF inhibitors and/or BRAF plus MEK inhibitors also exhibits a wide range of heterogeneous responses, which poses an obstacle for discovering common genes and pathways that can be used in clinic for overcoming drug resistance. This study objectively analyzed two sets of previously published tumor genomics data comparing pre-treated melanoma tumors and BRAFi- and/or MEKi-resistant tumors. Heterogeneity in response to BRAFi and BRAFi/MEKi was evident because the pre-treated tumors and resistant tumors did not exhibit a tendency of clustering together. Differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis revealed eight genes and two related enriched signature gene sets (matrisome and matrisome-associated signature gene sets) shared by both sets of data. The matrisome was closely related to the tumor microenvironment and immune response, and five out of the eight shared genes were also related to immune response. The PLXNC1 gene links the shared gene set and the enriched signature gene sets as it presented in all analysis results. As the PLXNC1 gene was up-regulated in the resistant tumors, we validated the up-regulation of this gene in a laboratory using vemurafenib-resistant cell lines. Given its role in promoting inflammation, this study suggests that resistant tumors exhibit an inflammatory tumor microenvironment. The involvement of the matrisome and the specific set of immune genes identified in this study may provide new opportunities for developing future therapeutic methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Extracellular Matrix in Cancer Ecosystems: Functional Contributions and Targeting Opportunities)
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Review

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24 pages, 1473 KiB  
Review
The Matrix Reloaded—The Role of the Extracellular Matrix in Cancer
by Hans Raskov, Shruti Gaggar, Asma Tajik, Adile Orhan and Ismail Gögenur
Cancers 2023, 15(7), 2057; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15072057 - 30 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2507
Abstract
As the core component of all organs, the extracellular matrix (ECM) is an interlocking macromolecular meshwork of proteins, glycoproteins, and proteoglycans that provides mechanical support to cells and tissues. In cancer, the ECM can be remodelled in response to environmental cues, and it [...] Read more.
As the core component of all organs, the extracellular matrix (ECM) is an interlocking macromolecular meshwork of proteins, glycoproteins, and proteoglycans that provides mechanical support to cells and tissues. In cancer, the ECM can be remodelled in response to environmental cues, and it controls a plethora of cellular functions, including metabolism, cell polarity, migration, and proliferation, to sustain and support oncogenesis. The biophysical and biochemical properties of the ECM, such as its structural arrangement and being a reservoir for bioactive molecules, control several intra- and intercellular signalling pathways and induce cytoskeletal changes that alter cell shapes, behaviour, and viability. Desmoplasia is a major component of solid tumours. The abnormal deposition and composition of the tumour matrix lead to biochemical and biomechanical alterations that determine disease development and resistance to treatment. This review summarises the complex roles of ECM in cancer and highlights the possible therapeutic targets and how to potentially remodel the dysregulated ECM in the future. Furthering our understanding of the ECM in cancer is important as the modification of the ECM will probably become an important tool in the characterisation of individual tumours and personalised treatment options. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Extracellular Matrix in Cancer Ecosystems: Functional Contributions and Targeting Opportunities)
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