Dear Colleagues,

Ex vivo 3D scaffolding systems, tumoroids, and spheroids are commonly used 3D substrata for the study of various tumorigenesis. Different kinds of biomaterials with or without blended forms have been used and seen significant advances in the formation of tumor models that could mimic the natural microenvironment. A complex heterogeneity tumor which represents biological relevant tumors is not only necessary for tumor studies, for example, proliferation, growth, and cell signatures, but it is equally important to discover the efficacies of anticancer drugs. The implantation of 3D tumors into an animal is a common practice to generate xenograft tumors. Because of physiological and metabolic complexities, we cannot precisely monitor the growth of the tumor inside the animal, and there is always a challenge to trace the cell signatures that play a significant role in the tumor development. In addition, we do not have a complete set of physiological systems that actually resembles the in vivo tissue environment yet, and we therefore rely on the outcomes of animal studies. To understand the mechanism of tumor development in an animal, various techniques are emerging today, for example, in vivo imaging systems, H-scan ultrasound technologies, and various fluorescent dye-tagged cell technologies. The topics of interest of this Special Issue therefore include but are not limited to the following:

• Advancements in 3D tumor systems, tumoroids, and spheroids;
• Advancements in in vivo imaging systems to trace cells or molecules during tumor development, for example, their migration, involvement of tumor and protein expression;
• Studies on cancer cell signatures in tissue mimicking the ex vivo environment and after implantation into an animal during xenograft development;
• Development of innovative 3D substrata that could resemble biologically relevant conditions to the cells of interest;
• Studies on different biomaterials, tumoroids or spheroids using innovative methodologies;
• Study or design of any tissue heterogeneity or complexity for the cancer studies;
• Application of ex vivo imaging systems to study ex vivo growing tumors.

Dr. Girdhari Rijal
Dr. Mawia Khairalseed
Dr. Lokesh Basavarajappa
Prof. Dr. Jarek Baran
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Bioengineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• 3D tumor models
• xenograft tumors
• cancer cell signatures
• H-scan ultrasound
• in vivo imaging systems
• dye-tagged cell technologies
• scaffold
• tumoroids
• spheroids
• anticancer drugs