ECM Composition and Rheology Regulate Growth, Motility, and Response to Photodynamic Therapy in 3D Models of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

ABSTRACT: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is characterized by prominent stromal involvement, which plays complex roles in regulating tumor growth and therapeutic response. The extracellular matrix (ECM)-rich stroma associated with this disease has been implicated as a barrier to drug penetration, although stromal depletion strategies have had mixed clinical success. It remains less clear how interactions with ECM, acting as a biophysical regulator of phenotype, not only a barrier to drug perfusion, regulate susceptibilities and resistance to specific therapies. In this context, an integrative approach is used to evaluate invasive behavior and motility in rheologically characterized ECM as determinants of chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT) responses. We show that in 3D cultures with ECM con

SUBMITTER: Cramer GM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5381935 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature