Mendoza-Martinez Ana Karen, Loessner Daniela, Mata Alvaro, Azevedo Helena S
School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK.
Institute of Bioengineering, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK.
Cancers (Basel). 2021 Nov 16;13(22):5745. doi: 10.3390/cancers13225745.
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.
卵巢癌（OvCa）是妇科恶性肿瘤的主要病因之一。尽管采用了手术和化疗治疗，但卵巢癌仍频繁扩散和复发，降低了患者的生存率。迫切需要为被诊断为卵巢癌的女性开发更有效的治疗方案。肿瘤微环境（TME）是疾病进展、转移和治疗耐药性的关键驱动因素。因此，与传统的二维方法相比，已经设计出三维模型来代表这个特定的生态位，并允许更真实的细胞行为。特别是，自组装肽是研究肿瘤生物学的一个有前途的生物材料平台。它们形成类似于细胞外基质结构的纳米纤维网络，并且可以设计成具有代表肿瘤微环境的机械性能和生化基序。在这篇综述中，我们强调了用于模拟卵巢肿瘤微环境的新兴三维平台的特性和优势。我们还概述了使用这些三维系统相关的挑战，并为未来的研究和发展提供建议。我们得出结论，我们对卵巢癌的理解和材料科学的进展将推动新型三维方法的工程化，这将有助于开发更有效的治疗方法。
