User:
Edna Cukierman, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia
Project:
Discerning the interplay between tumors and their microenvironment in the pathology of cancer
Problem:
Not enough is known about the differences among extracellular matrices (ECMs) of different tissues, and in different pathologic states, to recapitulate them in vitro from commercial sources.
Solution:
Cukierman induces fibroblasts (from diseased or normal tissue) to lay down a stromal matrix. She treats the confluent fibroblast cultures with an alkaline detergent solution to remove the cells, which leaves behind complex substrates of fibronectin, collagen, and other proteins. This, in turn, lets her interrogate how the differences among these 3-D scaffolds affect the behavior of tumors cultured on them.
Microenvironments change as the cancer progresses, Cukierman explains, and they're also active participants in cancer. Much of her research involves comparing the molecular characteristics and signaling capabilities of fibroblastic extracellular matrices - both how these change during tumor ...
