The different tumor microenvironment components, both cellular and physicochemical such as cycling or chronic hypoxia, all favor tumor development. Hypoxia initiates angiogenesis, recruitment of monocytes, which will become tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), and cancer cell resistance to anti-cancer agents. If these effects are now well described, few data are available regarding the reciprocal effects of TAMs on cancer cells and their sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs. Even less known is the influence of hypoxia, both cycling and chronic, on these parameters. The objective of this project is to study systematically the effects of both types of hypoxia on the influence of TAMs on cancer cell sensitivity to anti-cancer agents-induced apoptosis. Studies on murine tumor models as well as on human tumor biopsies are developed in order to confirm in vitro results. All together, these results will allow to better understand the dialogue between the different cell types present in tumors and of the consequences of these interactions on tumor growth and resistance.
Selected publications
- Genin M, Clement F, Fattaccioli A, Raes M & Michiels C 2015, ‘M1 and M2 macrophages derived from THP-1 cells differentially modulate the response of cancer cells to etoposide’ BMC Cancer vol 15, pp 577-591.
- Vlaminck, B, Calay, D, Genin, M, Sauvage, A, Ninane, N, Zouaoui Boudjeltia, K, Raes, M & Michiels, C 2014, 'Effects of copper sulfate-oxidized or myeloperoxidase-modified LDL on lipid loading and programmed cell death in macrophages under hypoxia' Hypoxia, vol 2, pp. 153-169.
List of research projects