Cancer Cell Biology in Biological Hydrogel

Dear Colleagues,

Biocompatible and biodegradable hydrogels fabricated from natural biomaterials have been widely used in biomedical research, bioengineering, drug delivery, and pharmaceutical applications. Biological hydrogels or composite hydrogels containing extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, bioactive material, or peptides, such as collagen, fibronectin, laminin, hyaluronic acid, elastin, glycosaminoglycans, alginate, etc., have demonstrated great capabilities in advancing our understanding of cell biology in native tissue microenvironments, human physiological and pathological conditions. To further advance the field and provide a forum for scientific discussion on applications of biological hydrogel in cancer biology research, we welcome colleagues from various scientific fields to contribute research findings and review articles to this Special Issue for publication in Gels. The areas of interest include but are not limited to: 

• Compositional or/and structural properties of hydrogel related to cancer cell activities in hydrogel cultures;
• Biological activities of cancer cells, such as growth, proliferation, differentiation, migration, invasion, transcription, translation, and molecular trafficking, regulated by hydrogels, hydrogel component(s), extracellular signals, or exogenous molecules;
• Fabrication of biological hydrogel for cancer research;
• Proteomics or metabolomics studies of molecular aspects of cancer cells biology in hydrogel;
• DNA or RNA sequencing studies of gene expression and its regulation in hydrogel-based cancer cell culture models;
• Immunological responses of cancer cells in biological hydrogel;
• Hydrogel three-dimensional (3D) tissue culture studies of cancer cell biology;
• Imaging studies of cancer cell biology in biological hydrogels;
• Bioengineering using biological hydrogels for cancer cell biology studies;
• Cancer cell animal models related to hydrogel applications;
• Anticancer drug testing or delivery with biological hydrogel;
• Computational analysis or modeling of biological hydrogel applications in cancer biology.

Dr. Weimin Li
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Gels is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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