Authors: Ed Luther, Meghna Talekar, Adwait Oka, Qijun Ouyang, Mansoor Amiji

Journal: AACR Annual Meeting (2015)

Institution: Northeastern university

Research Areas: Cancer research

Summary: The tumor microenvironment consists of several cell types including cancer cells and stromal cells (fibroblasts and inflammatory cells) embedded in the extracellular matrix. Among the inflammatory cells, macrophages are critical mediators of tumorigenesis. Their behavior and activation is controlled by a large number of chemo-stimulants, and are broadly classified into two polarization groups, M1 (classically activated macrophages), that enable the release of cytokines and chemokines that induce tumor suppression and M2 (alternatively activated macrophages), that induce tissue repair and angiogenesis. In the tumor microenvironment, this translates into tumor promotion. We employed a newly developed label-free holographic time-lapse imaging system to characterize the morphology and motility of macrophages in response to stimulants and tumor cells in 4-dimensional models of the tumor microenvironment.

Keywords: Poster, tumor microenvironment, macrophage, digital holography