Fig. 1: Tumor-associated blood vasculature is a major influencer of the tumor microenvironment (TME)
From: Defining the role of the tumor vasculature in antitumor immunity and immunotherapy
(Upper left panel) A well-organized vessel network ensures full-covering of nutrient supply. (Lower left panel) These vessels are matured with an endothelial cell layer surrounded by a basement membrane and pericytes (like smooth muscle cells). The endothelial layer is characterized by tight intercellular junctions. Oppositely, due to high pro-angiogenic signaling, the network of tumor-associated blood vessels (upper right panel) is chaotic, low in pericyte coverage and has loose inter-endothelial cell junctions (lower right panel). This generates leaky vessels that increases interstitial fluid (IFP) pressure. Common blunt-ended or collapsed vessels results in tumor regions that are starved from nutrients including oxygen (hypoxic cells indicated in green). Moreover, the glycolytic nature of the (hypoxic) tumor cell acidifies the pH in the TME
