Publication
Protein-based materials as cancer in vitro models
| Summary: | The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an active role in tumor progression. Increasing evidence points out a permissive tumor microenvironment that enhances malignancy and makes drug targeting a more difficult task. Protein-based materials as a substrate for cell culture hydrogels offer the advantage of having the presence of cell-responsive sequences as opposed to synthetic polymer-based hydrogels. This is important for cancer research to evaluate different aspects of tumor proliferation, such as cell growth, cell adhesion, and cell invasion. The gold standard for protein-based hydrogels has been Matrigel. However, its ill-defined nature, low reproducibility, and weak mechanical properties do not make it an ideal scaffold for more rigorous cancer research â especially in the mechanotransduction field. Therefore, alternatives are very much in need. Herein, it is presented the main proteinaceous materials used as scaffolds to model tumor development: collagen, gelatin, fibrin, and silk fibroin. |
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| Main Authors: | Ramos, P. |
| Other Authors: | Maia, F. Raquel; Reis, R. L.; Oliveira, Joaquim M. |
| Subject: | Biomaterials Collagen Fibrin Gelatin Hydrogels in vitro models Silk Fibroin Tumor microenvironment |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Document type: | book part |
| Access type: | open access |
| Associated institution: | Universidade do Minho |
| Language: | English |
| Origin: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Summary: | The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an active role in tumor progression. Increasing evidence points out a permissive tumor microenvironment that enhances malignancy and makes drug targeting a more difficult task. Protein-based materials as a substrate for cell culture hydrogels offer the advantage of having the presence of cell-responsive sequences as opposed to synthetic polymer-based hydrogels. This is important for cancer research to evaluate different aspects of tumor proliferation, such as cell growth, cell adhesion, and cell invasion. The gold standard for protein-based hydrogels has been Matrigel. However, its ill-defined nature, low reproducibility, and weak mechanical properties do not make it an ideal scaffold for more rigorous cancer research â especially in the mechanotransduction field. Therefore, alternatives are very much in need. Herein, it is presented the main proteinaceous materials used as scaffolds to model tumor development: collagen, gelatin, fibrin, and silk fibroin. |
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