Date of Graduation
5-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Biomedical Engineering
Advisor/Mentor
Wolchok, Jeffrey C.
Committee Member
Nelson, Christopher
Abstract
The purpose of this research project is to investigate the presence of patented in vitro models for perineural invasion (PNI) and tumor innervation, the two most prominent modes of cancer-nerve crosstalk that play an active role in cancer initiation and progression. PNI occurs through a positive feedback loop in which cancer cells invade passive nerves to metastasize. Tumor innervation is the process where tumor cells attract nearby nerves to the tumor microenvironment (TME) for tumor growth and metastasis. These crosstalk paths have been established for many types of cancer and result in poor patient prognosis. Recently, in vitro models have played a crucial part in understanding the molecular mechanisms behind the relationship between nerves and cancer cells in malignancies. Because our understanding of the mechanisms behind cancer-nerve crosstalk are severely underdeveloped, it is important to understand how these models help us visualize the mechanisms behind PNI and tumor innervation and how they can be improved. I will investigate patented in vitro models for perineural invasion and tumor innervation to understand how these models can be improved and translated into University of Arkansas Department of Biomedical Engineering tissue engineering projects. These results will establish a better understanding of how a cancer-nerve crosstalk in vitro model can be deemed clinically acceptable and how to apply these attributes to similar models.
Keywords
cancer-nerve crosstalk; perineural invasion; tumor innervation; in vitro models; patented models
Citation
Hauptmann, C. (2024). Investigating the Presence of Patented In Vitro Models for Cancer-Nerve Crosstalk Methods. Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/bmeguht/153
