Abstract
Cancer stem cells reside in a distinct microenvironment called niche. The reciprocal interactions between cancer stem cells and niche contribute to the maintenance and enrichment of cancer stem cells. In order to simulate the interactions between cancer stem cells and niche, three-dimensional models have been developed. These in vitro culture systems recapitulate the spatial dimension, cellular heterogeneity, and the molecular networks of the tumor microenvironment and show great promise in elucidating the pathophysiology of cancer stem cells and designing more clinically relavant treatment modalites.
Highlights
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) or tumor-initiating cells (TICs) are a special subpopulation in cancer tissues which perform self-renewal to maintain the pool of progenitor cells and differentiate to regenerate tumor cells in malignant tissues [1,2,3]
Classical tumor model claims that the origin of cancer cell is randomly selected if equipped with certain gene mutations which are remarkably influenced by tumor microenvironment [6, 7]
Recent findings suggest that phenotypic plasticity between differentiated cells and stem cells engages in the generation of CSCs and the bulk tumor cells
Summary
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) or tumor-initiating cells (TICs) are a special subpopulation in cancer tissues which perform self-renewal to maintain the pool of progenitor cells and differentiate to regenerate tumor cells in malignant tissues [1,2,3]. In order to investigate the interactions between niche and CSCs and to better reflect heterogeneity, three-dimensional (3D) culture systems are developed to recapitulate the spatial dimension, cellular heterogeneity, and the molecular networks of the tumor microenvironment.
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