For example, integrin v3 is upregulated in prostate cancer and promotes cell migration via activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway233. increasing 12 months by year. According to the latest global cancer statistics in 2020, 19.3 million new cases were diagnosed and cancer contributed to 10.0 million deaths1. Therefore, cancer is becoming one of the most serious problems which threaten public health. The most striking attributes of cancer are Oleanolic acid hemiphthalate disodium salt uncontrolled proliferation, local invasion, and distant metastasis. Nowadays, the mainstream therapies for cancer treatment include medical procedures, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. Cancer-related death is mainly caused by tumor recurrence and distant Oleanolic acid hemiphthalate disodium salt metastasis after systemic antitumor treatment. Although Oleanolic acid hemiphthalate disodium salt great advances have been achieved for cancer treatment in recent years, especially in the field of targeted therapy and immune therapy, the pursuit for converting this life-threatening disease into a manageable chronic condition has never Nrp2 stopped. The comprehensive understanding of cancer cells, as well as the microenvironment supporting the malignant behavior of cancer cells, are of equal importance for developing novel therapeutics against cancer. The extracellular matrix (ECM), which comprises the interstitial elements within tissues or organs for all those metazoan organisms, plays vital functions for all biological processes by providing architectural support, anchorage for cell adhesion, a reservoir for water, and various growth factors, as well as inductions for intracellular signaling pathways. According to a comprehensive study utilizing both proteomic analyses of the in Oleanolic acid hemiphthalate disodium salt vivo ECM composition and in silico prediction2, 278 genes were identified as core elements of the matrisome for humans, accounting for 1% of the entire proteome. Ever since the identification and characterization of collagen, the most abundant component of ECM, in the 1930s, the complicated network of ECM started to be gradually revealed through modern biochemistry methods3. Most of the proteins in the ECM can be classified into two groups, fibrous proteins, and glycosaminoglycan. The former include collagen, fibronectin, elastin, and laminin, and the latter mainly consists of hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, keratan sulfate, and heparan sulfate. These molecules are crosslinked and distributed heavily in the ECM, forming the mesh structure for tissues. As early as the 1970s, the crucial functions of ECM in the determination of cell morphology and responses to growth factors had been confirmed with solid empirical evidence4. Then the pursuit of discovering the intermembrane signal transducers linking ECM and intercellular signaling pathways produced many great works marked by the identification of integrins in 1980s5C9. Ever since then, the field of ECMCcell conversation developed rapidly, and the vast signaling network bridging extracellular environment and complicated cell behaviors started to reveal itself gradually due to the continuous efforts of researchers and technological advances. During the 2010s, the clinical application of Ibrutinib (a small molecular compound inhibiting integrin signaling) for the treatment of lymphoid leukemia and lymphoma was a hallmark event for the successful translation of biological knowledge to practical medicines in this research area10,11. At the same time, bioengineering of artificial and natural ECM materials also achieved great success in multiple branches of medicine, such as osteology, odontology, dermatology, and ophthalmology. For example, an artificial dermal regeneration template has been invented for the treatment of aplasia cutis congenital, a severer disorder characterized by the congenital absence of skin12. As one of the major.
