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: 30 April 2024 | Viewed by 2542
Special Issue Editor
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 short 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
