Self-assembling biomimetic hydrogels as a novel 3D in vitro platform for pancreatic cancer research

Peña, David Osuna de la; Trabulo, Sara; Collin, Estele; Loessner, Daniela; Mata, Álvaro; Heeschen, Christopher

doi:10.1016/j.pan.2018.10.031

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Overall, the ability to co-culture multiple cell populations within this system, that also contains bioactive epitopes and ECM proteins, demonstrates the relevance of this 3D approach to recreate the ovarian TME. These features were also exploited by our team for pancreatic cancer research [ 225 ]. Pancreatic cancer and stromal cells (CAFs and macrophages) were grown embedded in self-assembling hydrogels that also contained specific ECM molecules to test a combination of anti-cancer drugs (e.g., gemcitabine, nab-paclitaxel and triptolide).…”

Section: 3d Ovarian Cancer Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the Tumor Microenvironment of Ovarian Cancer: The Application of Self-Assembling Biomaterials

Mendoza-Martinez

Loessner

Mata

et al. 2021

Cancers

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Ovarian cancer (OvCa) is one of the leading causes of gynecologic malignancies. Despite treatment with surgery and chemotherapy, OvCa disseminates and recurs frequently, reducing the survival rate for patients. There is an urgent need to develop more effective treatment options for women diagnosed with OvCa. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a key driver of disease progression, metastasis and resistance to treatment. For this reason, 3D models have been designed to represent this specific niche and allow more realistic cell behaviors compared to conventional 2D approaches. In particular, self-assembling peptides represent a promising biomaterial platform to study tumor biology. They form nanofiber networks that resemble the architecture of the extracellular matrix and can be designed to display mechanical properties and biochemical motifs representative of the TME. In this review, we highlight the properties and benefits of emerging 3D platforms used to model the ovarian TME. We also outline the challenges associated with using these 3D systems and provide suggestions for future studies and developments. We conclude that our understanding of OvCa and advances in materials science will progress the engineering of novel 3D approaches, which will enable the development of more effective therapies.

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Section: 3d Ovarian Cancer Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the Tumor Microenvironment of Ovarian Cancer: The Application of Self-Assembling Biomaterials

Mendoza-Martinez

Loessner

Mata

et al. 2021

Cancers

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Modeling Interactions within and between Peptide Amphiphile Supramolecular Filaments

et al. 2022

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Many peptides are able to self-assemble into one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures, such as cylindrical fibers or ribbons of variable widths, but the relationship between the morphology of 1D objects and their molecular structure is not well understood. Here, we use coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CG-MD) simulations to study the nanostructures formed by self-assembly of different peptide amphiphiles (PAs). The results show that ribbons are hierarchical superstructures formed by laterally assembled cylindrical fibers. Simulations starting from bilayer structures demonstrate the formation of filaments, whereas other simulations starting from filaments indicate varying degrees of interaction among them depending on chemical structure. These interactions are verified by observations using atomic force microscopy of the various systems. The interfilament interactions are predicted to be strongest in supramolecular assemblies that display hydrophilic groups on their surfaces, while those with hydrophobic ones are predicted to interact more weakly as confirmed by viscosity measurements. The simulations also suggest that peptide amphiphiles with hydrophobic termini bend to reduce their interfacial energy with water, which may explain why these systems do not collapse into superstructures of bundled filaments. The simulations suggest that future experiments will need to address mechanistic questions about the self-assembly of these systems into hierarchical structures, namely, the preformation of interactive filaments vs equilibration of large assemblies into superstructures.

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Self-assembling biomimetic hydrogels as a novel 3D in vitro platform for pancreatic cancer research

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Modeling the Tumor Microenvironment of Ovarian Cancer: The Application of Self-Assembling Biomaterials

Modeling the Tumor Microenvironment of Ovarian Cancer: The Application of Self-Assembling Biomaterials

Modeling Interactions within and between Peptide Amphiphile Supramolecular Filaments

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