Tumor-stroma interaction - Pasonen-Seppänen group

01.09.2019 -

Research group

Tumor microenvironment (TME) has an active contribution to tumor development and cancer progression. This extremely complex system is composed of multiple cell types, such as fibroblasts and infiltrating immune cells, and structural extracellular matrix (ECM), which is mainly composed of hyaluronan in many cancers. Tumor and stromal cells are in constant interaction with each other and together they remodel TME favourable for cancer spreading.

The focus of our research is on tumor microenvironment (TME). Our overall goal is to elucidate how stromal cells, like fibroblasts and immune cells, and extracellular matrix molecules like hyaluronan affect melanoma progression. We are interested in tumor immunology, the role of macrophages and FoxP3+ regulatory T-cells in the formation of immunosuppressive TME in melanoma. The role of immune cells in tumor dissemination is well established yet the mechanisms that recruit the immune cells and regulate their function in the TME are poorly understood at the moment and are the targets of our research. In addition, we are seeking for new prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers for melanoma.

Research group description

Pasonen-Seppänen group

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Keywords

3D -cell culture models cancer confocal microscopy ekstracellular matrix extracellular vesicle hyaluronan immune signature immunohistochemistry macrophage melanoma pro-tumor inflammation RNAseq tumor microenvironment tumor-stroma interaction