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Updated: Dec 6, 2025
A Label-Free Segmentation Approach for Intravital Imaging of Mammary Tumor Microenvironment
Published on: May 24, 2022
Concepts of extracellular matrix remodelling in tumour progression and metastasis
Juliane Winkler1, Abisola Abisoye-Ogunniyan2, Kevin J Metcalf2
1Department of Anatomy, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA. juliane.winkler@ucsf.edu.
Abstract:
Tissues are dynamically shaped by bidirectional communication between resident cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) through cell-matrix interactions and ECM remodelling. Tumours leverage ECM remodelling to create a microenvironment that promotes tumourigenesis and metastasis. In this review, we focus on how tumour and tumour-associated stromal cells deposit, biochemically and biophysically modify, and degrade tumour-associated ECM. These tumour-driven changes support tumour growth, increase migration of tumour cells, and remodel the ECM in distant organs to allow for metastatic progression. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of tumourigenic ECM remodelling is crucial for developing therapeutic treatments for patients.
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