van Dam Stephanie, Baars Matthijs J D, Vercoulen Yvonne
Center for Molecular Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Oncode Institute, 3521 AL Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Cancers (Basel). 2022 Jun 28;14(13):3170. doi: 10.3390/cancers14133170.
The tumor microenvironment is a complex ecosystem containing various cell types, such as immune cells, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells, which interact with the tumor cells. In recent decades, the cancer research field has gained insight into the cellular subtypes that are involved in tumor microenvironment heterogeneity. Moreover, it has become evident that cellular interactions in the tumor microenvironment can either promote or inhibit tumor development, progression, and drug resistance, depending on the context. Multiplex spatial analysis methods have recently been developed; these have offered insight into how cellular crosstalk dynamics and heterogeneity affect cancer prognoses and responses to treatment. Multiplex (imaging) technologies and computational analysis methods allow for the spatial visualization and quantification of cell-cell interactions and properties. These technological advances allow for the discovery of cellular interactions within the tumor microenvironment and provide detailed single-cell information on properties that define cellular behavior. Such analyses give insights into the prognosis and mechanisms of therapy resistance, which is still an urgent problem in the treatment of multiple types of cancer. Here, we provide an overview of multiplex imaging technologies and concepts of downstream analysis methods to investigate cell-cell interactions, how these studies have advanced cancer research, and their potential clinical implications.
肿瘤微环境是一个复杂的生态系统，包含多种细胞类型，如免疫细胞、成纤维细胞和内皮细胞，它们与肿瘤细胞相互作用。近几十年来，癌症研究领域对参与肿瘤微环境异质性的细胞亚型有了更深入的了解。此外，很明显，肿瘤微环境中的细胞相互作用根据具体情况既可以促进也可以抑制肿瘤的发展、进展和耐药性。近年来已经开发出多重空间分析方法；这些方法使人们深入了解细胞间相互作用动态和异质性如何影响癌症预后和治疗反应。多重（成像）技术和计算分析方法能够对细胞间相互作用和特性进行空间可视化和量化。这些技术进步使得发现肿瘤微环境内的细胞相互作用成为可能，并提供有关定义细胞行为的特性的详细单细胞信息。此类分析有助于深入了解治疗耐药性的预后和机制，这在多种癌症的治疗中仍然是一个紧迫的问题。在这里，我们概述了用于研究细胞间相互作用的多重成像技术和下游分析方法的概念，这些研究如何推动了癌症研究，以及它们潜在的临床意义。
