Impact of Extracellular Matrix on Cellular Behavior: A Source of Molecular Targets in Disease

In the last few decades, outstanding strides have been made on understanding the impact of extracellular matrices (ECMs) on cellular behavior in health and disease. It is now clear that ECMs are not inactive space-filling materials but, in contrast, apart from their structural roles they interact with cells and generate signals to control a multitude of vital cellular functions. Currently, there are strong indications that ECMs could potentially play a groundbreaking role in drug discovery since they comprise an invaluable source of multiple molecular targets. The established key roles of specific ECM effectors, such as proteoglycans, hyaluronan (HA), biosynthetic enzymes, cytokines, and growth factors, in the development and progression of several diseases suggest that ECMs hold a great potential in driving the design and development of novel disease targeting tools.