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Engineered hydrogels to induce breast cancer dormancy and reactivation
, Slater J.H.
Published in Society for Biomaterials
2019
Volume: 40
   
Abstract
Statement of Purpose: Metastasis is the leading cause of breast cancer related mortality.1,2 Targeting metastatic disease is challenging due to the presence of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) that can lie dormant in secondary organs for long time periods before reverting to an actively proliferative state (metastatic relapse).3 Pre-emptively targeting dormant DTCs is difficult owing to their quiescent behavior, poorly understood biological characteristics, and limits of clinical detection.3,4 DTC dormancy can be classified as cellular dormancy (G0/G1 arrest) or dormant micrometastasis (balanced proliferation and death). We demonstrate that highly metastatic breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231s: (231s)) can be induced to adopt a cellular dormancy, dormant micrometastasis, or invasive phenotype by modulating the crosslink density, degradability, stiffness, and adhesivity of the hydrogel they are cultured in. We also present the ability to reactivate dormant cells via dynamically changing matrix adhesivity. This hydrogel platform can be used to induce desired dormant and invasive phenotypes in metastatic breast cancer and may provide useful pre-clinical information for future drug development applications. © 2019 Omnipress - All rights reserved.
About the journal
JournalTransactions of the Annual Meeting of the Society for Biomaterials and the Annual International Biomaterials Symposium
PublisherSociety for Biomaterials
ISSN15267547
Open AccessNo