SCALABLE ORGANOTYPIC MODELS OF TUMOR DORMANCY

摘要

Herein are described synthetic organotypic microvascular niches formed by self-assembly of stromal cells cultured endothelial cells seeded with cells of interest to model and determine dormancy state of these cells of interest in these tissues. These models demonstrated that endothelial-derived thrombospondin-1 induces sustained cancer cell quiescence. We further describe dormancy models, and identified active tumor-promoting, endothelial tip cell-derived factors. Our work reveals that stable microvasculature constitutes a ‘dormant niche,’ whereas sprouting neovasculature sparks micrometastatic outgrowth.