The modeling study of the effect of morphological behaviors of ECM fibers on the dynamic interaction between tumor cells and anti-tumor immune response

Low response rate limits the effective application of immunotherapy, in which the interactions between tumor cells and immune cells play a significant role. The strength of regulation could be mediated by ECM fibers, which is still insufficiently investigated. In the study, the cellular potts model was utilized to explore the role of morphological properties of ECM in tumor-immune interactions. It was observed that high-density random ECM fibers delayed the interaction between tumor cells and T cells. Moreover, the tumor-immune interactions were ECM morphology-specific. Radial ECM fibers exhibited weaker inhibitory role in the process of contact between tumor cells and T cells. This study provided the useful mechanism of tumor-immune interactions from the viewpoint of morphological effect of ECM fibers, facilitating improving the efficiency of immunotherapy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.