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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Using Microarrays to Interrogate Microenvironmental Impact on Cellular Phenotypes in Cancer
Published on: May 21, 2019
Nanochemical modulation of ECM-driven pseudo-resistance: convergent microenvironmental pathways in COVID-19 and
Sanoj Rejinold N1, Geun-Woo Jin2, Jin-Ho Choy1,3
1Intelligent Nanohybrid Materials Laboratory (INML), Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Technology, Dankook University, Cheonan, 31116, Republic of Korea. sanojrejinold@dankook.ac.kr.
Abstract:
Extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling is increasingly recognized as a central determinant of inflammation, fibrosis, and therapeutic response across chronic diseases. This Perspective examines how post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis and stromal-driven resistance in solid tumors converge on a shared phenomenon, ECM-driven pseudo-resistance, an extrinsic and reversible microenvironmental state in which pathological matrix architecture, fibro-inflammatory signaling, and immune exclusion transiently limit therapeutic efficacy without conferring stable, mutation-driven cellular resistance. We highlight how nanochemical strategies, including ECM-penetrating and ECM-modulating nanohybrids, can dismantle these physical and signaling barriers by reprogramming matrix stiffness, mechanotransduction, and immune accessibility. By integrating evidence from virology, oncology, and materials science, this review proposes that targeting conserved ECM pathways through advanced nanochemistry offers a cross-disease therapeutic paradigm for overcoming pseudo-resistance in fibrotic and malignant pathologies.
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