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Staff member publications

Perucca, Alice, Llonin, Andrea Gomez, Benach, Oriol Mane, Hallopeau, Clement, Rivas, Elisa I, Rivas, Elisa I, Linares, Jenniffer, Garrido, Marta, Sallent-Aragay, Anna, Golde, Tom, Colombelli, Julien, Dalaka, Eleni, Linacero, Judith, Cazorla, Marina, Galan, Teresa, Pastor Viel, Jordi, Badenas, Xavier, Recort-Bascuas, Alba, Comerma, Laura, Fernandez-Nogueira, Patricia, Rovira, Ana, Roca-Cusachs, Pere, Albanell, Joan, Trepat, Xavier, Calon, Alexandre, Labernadie, Anna, (2025). Micro Immune Response On-chip (MIRO) models the tumour-stroma interface for immunotherapy testing Nature Communications 16, 1279

Immunotherapies are beneficial for a considerable proportion of cancer patients, but ineffective in others. In vitro modelling of the complex interactions between cancer cells and their microenvironment could provide a path to understanding immune therapy sensitivity and resistance. Here we develop MIRO, a fully humanised in vitro platform to model the spatial organisation of the tumour/stroma interface and its interaction with immune cells. We find that stromal barriers are associated with immune exclusion and protect cancer cells from antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, elicited by targeted therapy. We demonstrate that IL2-driven immunomodulation increases immune cell velocity and spreading to overcome stromal immunosuppression and restores anti-cancer response in refractory tumours. Collectively, our study underscores the translational value of MIRO as a powerful tool for exploring how the spatial organisation of the tumour microenvironment shapes the immune landscape and influences the responses to immunomodulating therapies.

JTD Keywords: Activation, Animals, Architecture, Breast-cancer, Cancer-associated fibroblasts, Cell line, tumor, Collagen, Female, Humans, Immunomodulation, Immunotherapy, Interleukin-2, Lab-on-a-chip devices, Mechanism, Mice, Microenvironment, Migration, Neoplasms, Stromal cells, T-cells, Therap, Tumor microenvironment