What is ECM remodeling?
ECM remodeling is an important mechanism whereby cell differentiation can be regulated, including processes such as the establishment and maintenance of stem cell niches, branching morphogenesis, angiogenesis, bone remodeling, and wound repair.
What is extracellular matrix homeostasis?
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is one of the most important regulators of cellular and tissue function in the body. Tightly controlled ECM homeostasis is essential for development, wound healing and normal organ homeostasis, and sustained dysregulation can result in life-threatening pathological conditions.
Can tumors grow complex organs?
Solid tumors are not simply clones of cancer cells. Instead, they are abnormal organs composed of multiple cell types and extracellular matrix. Some aspects of tumor development resemble processes seen in developing organs, while others are more akin to tissue remodeling.
What causes ECM stiffness?
The ECM of tumors, primarily composed of fibrous tissue, becomes stiffer due to an increase of fiber cross-linking (31, 32). This is in line with the development of desmoplasia during carcinogenesis.
How does ECM cause fibrosis?
In general, excessive ECM production and aberrant ECM turnover characterize progressive organ fibrosis. In addition, dysregulation of ECM remodeling enzymes causes disorganization of ECM structure and ECM fragmentation, resulting in pathological cellular functions that contribute to fibrosis progression (33).
What is a heart matrix?
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is an essential component of the heart that imparts fundamental cellular processes during organ development and homeostasis. Most cardiovascular diseases involve severe remodeling of the ECM, culminating in the formation of fibrotic tissue that is deleterious to organ function.
What does ECM consist of?
The ECM is composed of two main classes of macromolecules: proteoglycans (PGs) and fibrous proteins (see Boxes 1 and 2) (Jarvelainen et al., 2009; Schaefer and Schaefer, 2010). The main fibrous ECM proteins are collagens, elastins, fibronectins and laminins (see panel 1 of the poster) (Alberts et al., 2007).
What are the different components of ECM?
The ECM is composed of an interlocking mesh of fibrous proteins and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs).
- Proteoglycans.
- Non-proteoglycan polysaccharide.
- Proteins.
- Extracellular vesicles.
What are the components of ECM?
What affects cell stiffness?
Increased collagen deposition, fiber misalignment, and crosslinking during extracellular matrix reorganization leads to increased stiffness.
How stiff is tissue culture plastic?
In physics terms, conventional tissue culture plastic dishes are some 10’000 KiloPascal (kPa) stiff whereas most tissues in our body are four orders of magnitude softer (1-50 kPa).
What is ECM fibrosis?
Fibrosis is characterized by excessive accumulation of collagen and other extracellular matrix (ECM) components, and this process has been likened to aberrant wound healing. The early phases of wound healing involve the formation of a provisional ECM containing fibrin, fibrinogen, and fibronectin.