The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a three-dimensional network of proteins of diverse nature, whose interactions are essential to provide tissues with the correct mechanical and biochemical cues they need for proper development and homeostasis. Changes in the quantity of extracellular matrix (ECM) components and their balance within the tumor microenvironment (TME) accompany and fuel all steps of tumor development, growth and metastasis, and a deeper and more systematic understanding of these processes is fundamental for the development of future therapeutic approaches. The wealth of “big data” from numerous sources has enabled gigantic steps forward in the comprehension of the oncogenic process, also impacting on our understanding of ECM changes in the TME. Most of the available studies, however, have not considered the network nature of ECM and the possibility that changes in the quantity of components might be regulated (co-occur) in cancer and significantly “rebound” on the whole network through its connections, fundamentally altering the matrix interactome. To facilitate the exploration of these network-scale effects we have implemented MatriNet (www.matrinet.org), a database enabling the study of structural changes in ECM network architectures as a function of their protein-protein interaction strengths across 20 different tumor types. The use of MatriNet is intuitive and offers new insights into tumor-specific as well as pan-cancer features of ECM networks, facilitating the identification of similarities and differences between cancers as well as the visualization of single-tumor events and the prioritization of ECM targets for further experimental investigations.

细胞外基质 (ECM) 是一个由多种性质的蛋白质组成的三维网络，其相互作用对于为组织提供正确的机械和生化线索是必不可少的，因为它们需要适当的发育和体内平衡。细胞外基质 (ECM) 成分数量的变化及其在肿瘤微环境 (TME) 中的平衡伴随并推动肿瘤发展、生长和转移的所有步骤，对这些过程的更深入和更系统的理解对于开发未来的治疗方法。来自众多来源的大量“大数据”使我们在理解致癌过程方面迈出了巨大的一步，也影响了我们对 TME 中 ECM 变化的理解。然而，大多数可用的研究，没有考虑 ECM 的网络性质以及成分数量变化可能在癌症中受到调节（共同发生）并通过其连接在整个网络上显着“反弹”的可能性，从根本上改变基质相互作用组。为了便于探索这些网络规模效应，我们实施了MatriNet (www.matrinet.org)，一个数据库，可以研究 ECM 网络架构中的结构变化，作为它们在 20 种不同肿瘤类型中的蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用强度的函数。MatriNet的使用非常直观，并为 ECM 网络的肿瘤特异性和泛癌特征提供了新的见解，有助于识别癌症之间的异同以及单个肿瘤事件的可视化和 ECM 目标的优先级用于进一步的实验研究。