Investigating the Essential Influence of Lipids on the Tumor Microenvironment

Lipids impact the tumor microenvironment (TME) at every stage of cancer progression. Lipids are released from stromal cells as the tumor spreads into the surrounding microenvironment, providing fuel for new cell growth, inducing signaling to enhance migration, and suppressing the immune response. Aberrant lipid metabolism in the TME can promote tumor growth, metastasis, and resistance to treatment, while also influencing immune cell function and ultimately contributing to immunosuppression.

Moreover, there is growing evidence from preclinical cancer studies that activated lipid metabolic pathways in tumoral and/or TME compartments participate in the increased cancer cell resistance to chemotherapeutic agents or immunotherapy. Consequently, the targeting of lipid metabolism could be a promising therapeutic approach to overcome tumor resistance to most common treatments. Therefore, understanding and characterizing lipid functions in malignant and non-malignant compartments, is absolutely necessary before considering systemic treatment targeting lipid metabolism as therapeutic strategies for cancer.

The BSG product – Cleanascite™ has been exceptionally useful in characterizing the influence of lipids in the TME. Unlike alternative lipid-depletion methods that use solvents, Cleanascite™ is an aqueous suspension product and so it is very compatible with cellular models of disease. The essential requirement is the maintenance of all other factors required for cellular activity after lipid depletion. We now have over 30 references in cell response applications with Cleanascite™. With confidence that it does not introduce confounding artifacts upon use, researchers can dispositively determine the influence of lipid factors on phenotypic changes in various disease models.

Here are some published use examples in TME:

• Cleanascite™ Cited In Study of Lipid-driven Influences in Tumor Microenvironments of Melanoma

• Cleanascite™ Cited In Study of Obesity-driven Oleoylcarnitine Accumulation in Tumor Microenvironment

• Cleanascite™ Cited To Help Determine the Role of Lipids in Supporting Immunosuppressive Neutrophil Differentiation within Tumors

• Research Article Cites Cleanascite™ To Help Define the role of Lipids in Macrophage Polarization in Liver Cancer

• Cleanascite™ Employed to Help Determine Role of Fatty Acids in Multiple Myeloma

• Cleanascite™ Employed to Investigate Lipid Influence in Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs)