abstract
In vitro 3D tumor microenvironment mimicking models are gathering momentum as alternatives to traditional 2D flat monolayer cultures due to their potential for recapitulating major cancer hallmarks. To fulfill such potential, it is crucial that 3D tumor testing platforms completely emulate in vitro the complex in vivo tumor niche and its cellular constituents. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are recognized to play a pivotal multi-modulatory role in cancer, generating interest as biological targets and as key tumor suppressing, or tumor promoting effectors. This review discusses the biological influence of different types of MSCs in the tumor microenvironment and showcases recent studies that engineer 3D MSCs-cancer cells co-cultures as advanced in vitro therapy testing platforms. A special focus is given to MSCs-cancer 3D co-culture set-up parameters, challenges, and future opportunities. Understanding cancer-MSCs crosstalk and their underlying effects is envisioned to support the development of advanced 3D in vitro disease models for discovery of forefront cancer treatments.
keywords
BREAST-CANCER CELLS; ON-A-CHIP; DRUG DISCOVERY; ANIMAL-MODELS; STROMAL CELLS; LUNG-CANCER; COLON-CANCER; BONE-MARROW; CARCINOMA CELLS; CULTURE-SYSTEM
subject category
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
authors
Ferreira, LP; Gaspar, VM; Henrique, R; Jeronimo, C; Mano, JF
our authors
acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the European Research Council grant agreement ERC-2014-ADG-669858 for project ATLAS. The authors also acknowledge the financial support by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through a Post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/119983/2016, Vitor Gaspar).