We have developed strategies to assemble tissue engineered tumours that recapitulate clinically important aspects of the tumour microenvironment, such as oxygen gradients and stromal cell populations including cancer associated fibroblasts and immune cells. Using these multicellular platforms, we are exploring the impact of tumour microenvironment on tumour cell properties including tumour resistance, response to therapy and tumour re-growth after therapy with the goal of identifying novel targets to improve current therapies.

Relevant publications

• An Engineered Paper-Based 3D Coculture Model of Pancreatic Cancer to Study the Impact of Tissue Architecture and Microenvironmental Gradients on Cell Phenotype. Cadavid JL, Latour S, Nowlan F, Co IL, Landon-Brace N, Wouters BG, Grünwald BT, Nitz M, Jackson HW, McGuigan AP. Adv Healthc Mater. 2023 Jun;12(14):e2201846. doi: 10.1002/adhm.202201846.
• 3D microgels to quantify tumor cell properties and therapy response dynamics. Wu NC, Cadavid JL, Tan X, Latour S, Scaini S, Makhijani P, McGaha TL, Ailles L, McGuigan AP. Biomaterials. 2022 Apr;283:121417. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2022.121417. Epub 2022 Feb 16.PMID: 35231786
• A TRACER culture invasion assay to probe the impact of cancer associated fibroblasts on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell invasiveness. Dean T , Li NT , Cadavid JL , Ailles L , McGuigan AP . Biomater Sci. 2020 Jun 7;8(11):3078-3094. doi: 10.1039/c9bm02017a. Epub 2020 Apr 29. PMID: 32347842
• Gels for Live Analysis of Compartmentalized Environments (GLAnCE): A tissue model to probe tumour phenotypes at tumour-stroma interfaces. D’Arcangelo E, Wu NC, Chen T, Shahaj A, Cadavid JL, Huang L, Ailles L, McGuigan AP. Biomaterials. 2020 Jan;228:119572. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.119572. Epub 2019 Oct 23. PMID: 31683122
• A three-dimensional engineered tumour for spatial snapshot analysis of cell metabolism and phenotype in hypoxic gradients. Rodenhizer D, Gaude E, Cojocari D, Mahadevan R, Frezza C, Wouters BG, McGuigan AP.Nat Mater. 2016 Feb;15(2):227-34. doi: 10.1038/nmat4482. Epub 2015 Nov 23.PMID: 26595121
• Landon-Brace N, Cadavid JL, Latour S, Co IL, Rodenhizer D, Li NT, Wu NC, Bugbee E, Chebotarev A, Zhang J, Wouters BG, McGuigan AP (Corresponding author), An Engineered Patient-Derived Tumor Organoid Model That Can Be Disassembled to Study Cellular Responses in a Graded 3D Microenvironment, Adv. Funct. Mater., 2021, 31 (41), 2105349