La matriz extracelular: morfología, función y biotensegridad (parte I)

Tumours are functionally connected tissues which depend on the microenvironment. This tumour microenvironment, made up of ECM, stromal cells and the immune response, determines the morphology and tumour histopathological classification, clinical behaviour, prognosis and immune response to the tumour. Both in physiological and pathological conditions, reciprocity in the communication between stromal and parenchymal cells determine gene expression. The oncogenic capacity of the stroma depends on tumour associated fibroblasts, immune system cellularity and disruption of tensegrity by ECM. Epithelialmesenchymal transition is the change that transforms a normal or benign cell into a malignant cell. The «pseudo-mensenchymal» cytoskeleton is responsible for migration, invasion and dissemination, and vice-versa, the malignant phenotype is reversible through the correction of the microenvironmental factors that favour tumour growth.