The natural microenvironment of tumors is composed of extracellular matrix (ECM), blood vasculature, and supporting stromal cells. The physical characteristics of ECM as well as the cellular components play a vital role in controlling cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis, metabolism, and differentiation. To mimic the tumor microenvironment outside the human body for drug testing, two-dimensiona...

Cancer microenvironment is a remarkably heterogeneous composition of cellular and non-cellular components, regulated by both external and intrinsic physical and chemical stimuli. Physical alterations driven by increased proliferation of neoplastic cells and angiogenesis in the cancer microenvironment result in the exposure of the cancer cells to elevated levels of flow-based shear stress. We de...

Age is the greatest risk factor for breast cancer, but the reasons underlying this association are unclear. While there is undeniably a genetic component to all cancers, the accumulation of mutations with age is insufficient to explain the age-dependent increase in breast cancer incidence. In this viewpoint, we propose a multilevel framework to better understand the respective roles played by s...

In situ, cells are highly sensitive to geometrical and mechanical constraints from their microenvironment. These parameters are, however, uncontrolled under classic culture conditions, which are thus highly artefactual. Micro-engineering techniques provide tools to modify the chemical properties of cell culture substrates at sub-cellular scales. These can be used to restrict the location and sh...

With the significant successes of immune checkpoint blockade and adoptive cellular therapy, immunotherapy has now become an established treatment option to effectively treat cancer. However, full potential this modality yet be realized, as there are many additional mechanisms whereby tumors continue evade destruction. To end, metabolic reprogramming by cancer cells serves not only promote their...

Traction forces exerted by adherent cells on their microenvironment can mediate many critical cellular functions. Accurate quantification of these forces is essential for mechanistic understanding of mechanotransduction. However, most existing methods of quantifying cellular forces are limited to single cells in isolation, whereas most physiological processes are inherently multi-cellular in na...

A perioperative multimodal strategy including combination chemotherapy and radiotherapy, in addition to surgical resection, has been acknowledged to improve patient prognosis. However chemotherapy has not been actively applied as an immunomodulating modality because of concerns about various immunosuppressive effects. It has recently been shown that certain chemotherapeutic agents could modify ...

Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is a pressing health concern, demanding deep understanding of various mediators’ roles in its development for therapeutic progress. Notably, interleukin-6 (IL-6) has taken center stage investigations due to intricate and context-dependent functions. This review delves into the dual nature IL-6 HCC, exploring seemingly contradictory as both promoter an inhibitor di...

Redox homeostasis, a dynamic process ensuring balance between cellular oxidizing and reducing reactions, is crucial for maintaining healthy physiology regulating many biological processes, requiring continuous monitoring fine-tuning. Reactive species play critical role in intra/intercellular signaling, each cell has specific system guarding redox homeostasis. ROS signaling oxidative stress are ...

Mechanotransduction is known as the cellular mechanism converting insoluble biophysical signals in the local cellular microenvironment (e.g. matrix rigidity, external mechanical forces, and fluid shear) into intracellular signalling to regulate cellular behaviours. While microfluidic technologies support a precise and independent control of soluble factors in the cellular microenvironment (e.g....