The Functions and Mechanisms of Microenvironment in Cancer

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 3973

Special Issue Editor

Department of Surgery, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ, USA
Interests: regenerative medicine; stem cell therapy; tissue regeneration; cell growth control; cancer; epigenetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent cancer research has undergone rapid development in new therapeutic strategies and efficacious treatments in the oncology realm. Traditional cancer treatments such as radiation, cytoreductive surgery and classic chemotherapy are not successful in eradicating disease for the majority of patients, especially for those who present at advanced stages. The cancer microenvironment has thus rightfully garnered much attention due to the promotion of tumor growth, metastasis, and chemoresistance in variable cancer types.

Chemoresistant cancer cells often prime and change the surrounding cellular microenvironment, such as fibroblasts, stem cells and microphages, allowing it to become pro-tumorigenic cells that support tumor propagation and eventually become the premetastatic niche. In fact, an accumulating number of research studies expose the cancer microenvironment as a critical player in aiding tumor propagation, metastasis, and chemoresistance, leading to the failure of current healthcare cancer treatments. Therefore, the discovery of new functions and mechanisms that control and manipulate the cancer microenvironment is of particular interest in the control of and fight against cancer metastasis and the response of metastatic disease to chemotherapy. We are calling for the scientific community to develop novel treatment strategies that can maintain a balance between treating aggressive cancer disease and improving health and quality of life for cancer patients.

This Special Issue of Biomolecules aims to introduce and discuss novel functions and mechanisms that control the microenvironment in cancer and revoke its ability to support cancer propagation and fast-developing chemoresistance and metastasis.

Dr. Olga Ostrovsky
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • cancer therapy
  • cancer microenvironment
  • cellular transformation
  • tumorigenic transition
  • tumor chemoresistance
  • metastasis

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 7603 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Natural Epigenetic Therapies in 3D Ovarian Cancer and Patient-Derived Tumor Explants: New Avenues in Regulating the Cancer Secretome
by Rebeca Kelly, Diego Aviles, Catriona Krisulevicz, Krystal Hunter, Lauren Krill, David Warshal and Olga Ostrovsky
Biomolecules 2023, 13(7), 1066; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom13071066 - 01 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1293
Abstract
High mortality rates in ovarian cancer have been linked to recurrence, metastasis, and chemoresistant disease, which are known to involve not only genetic changes but also epigenetic aberrations. In ovarian cancer, adipose-derived stem cells from the omentum (O-ASCs) play a crucial role in [...] Read more.
High mortality rates in ovarian cancer have been linked to recurrence, metastasis, and chemoresistant disease, which are known to involve not only genetic changes but also epigenetic aberrations. In ovarian cancer, adipose-derived stem cells from the omentum (O-ASCs) play a crucial role in supporting the tumor and its tumorigenic microenvironment, further propagating epigenetic abnormalities and dissemination of the disease. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor derived from green tea, and Indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a histone deacetylase inhibitor from cruciferous vegetables, carry promising effects in reprograming aberrant epigenetic modifications in cancer. Therefore, we demonstrate the action of these diet-derived compounds in suppressing the growth of 3D ovarian cancer spheroids or organoids as well as post-treatment cancer recovery through proliferation, migration, invasion, and colony formation assays when compared to the synthetic epigenetic compound Panobinostat with or without standard chemotherapy. Finally, given the regulatory role of the secretome in growth, metastasis, chemoresistance, and relapse of disease, we demonstrate that natural epigenetic compounds can regulate the secretion of protumorigenic growth factors, cytokines, extracellular matrix components, and immunoregulatory markers in human ovarian cancer specimens. While further studies are needed, our results suggest that these treatments could be considered in the future as adjuncts to standard chemotherapy, improving efficiency and patient outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Functions and Mechanisms of Microenvironment in Cancer)
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Review

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14 pages, 1278 KiB  
Review
Alternative mRNA Splicing and Promising Therapies in Cancer
by James D. Fackenthal
Biomolecules 2023, 13(3), 561; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom13030561 - 20 Mar 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2294
Abstract
Cancer is among the leading causes of mortality worldwide. While considerable attention has been given to genetic and epigenetic sources of cancer-specific cellular activities, the role of alternative mRNA splicing has only recently received attention as a major contributor to cancer initiation and [...] Read more.
Cancer is among the leading causes of mortality worldwide. While considerable attention has been given to genetic and epigenetic sources of cancer-specific cellular activities, the role of alternative mRNA splicing has only recently received attention as a major contributor to cancer initiation and progression. The distribution of alternate mRNA splicing variants in cancer cells is different from their non-cancer counterparts, and cancer cells are more sensitive than non-cancer cells to drugs that target components of the splicing regulatory network. While many of the alternatively spliced mRNAs in cancer cells may represent “noise” from splicing dysregulation, certain recurring splicing variants have been shown to contribute to tumor progression. Some pathogenic splicing disruption events result from mutations in cis-acting splicing regulatory sequences in disease-associated genes, while others may result from shifts in balance among naturally occurring alternate splicing variants among mRNAs that participate in cell cycle progression and the regulation of apoptosis. This review provides examples of cancer-related alternate splicing events resulting from each step of mRNA processing and the promising therapies that may be used to address them. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Functions and Mechanisms of Microenvironment in Cancer)
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