Cancer cells need a network of friends to thrive

Doha, Umnia

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132871 Copy

Description

Title

Cancer cells need a network of friends to thrive

Author(s)

Doha, Umnia

Issue Date

2023

Keyword(s)

Mechanical Science Engineering

Abstract

When someone lands on a new place, having a supportive network of native dwellers can help them to get settled in the foreign environment. Similar to human society, cancer cells- which are ‘foreign’ to the regular tissue microenvironment, need assistance from the resident cells of the tissue in order to grow. Cancer Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) are one of the most prevalent cell types in the tumor stroma that provide such assistance.My research focuses on the mechanical crosstalk between CAFs and cancer cells. CAFs alter the mechanical and structural properties of the tumor microenvironment by applying contractile force, which facilitates tumor growth and cancer metastasis. A network of CAFs emerges around the cancer cell cluster as a result of mechanical interaction – as shown in the image. My research goal is to understand the mechanism of how CAFs form this network, which can make cancer cell-CAF mechanical crosstalk a potential therapeutic target. The image here shows an in vitro colorectal cancer tissue consisting of a cancer spheroid of FET cells – a human colorectal cancer cell line and a human colorectal CAF cell line. Both CAF and FET cells are immunostained for actin- a cytoskeletal protein (red) and nuclei (blue).

Type of Resource

• Text
• Image

Language

eng

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132871

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Umnia Doha

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