Context Matters: Response Heterogeneity to Collagen-Targeting Approaches in Desmoplastic Cancers.

ABSTRACT: The deposition of collagen-rich desmoplastic tissue is a well-documented feature of the solid tumor microenvironment (TME). However, efforts to target the desmoplastic extracellular matrix (ECM) en masse, or collagen molecules more specifically, have been met with mixed and sometimes paradoxical results. In this review, we posit that these discrepancies are due-at least in part-to the incredible diversity of the collagen superfamily. Specifically, whereas studies of "collagen-targeting" approaches frequently refer to "collagen" as a single molecule or relatively homogeneous molecular family, 28 individual collagens have been identified in mammalian tissues, each with a unique structure, supramolecular assembly pattern, tissue distribution, and/or function. Moreover, some collagen species h

SUBMITTER: Fuller AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9264969 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature