Extracellular matrix stiffness activates mechanosensitive signals but limits breast cancer cell spheroid proliferation and invasion.

ABSTRACT: Breast cancer is characterized by physical changes that occur in the tumor microenvironment throughout growth and metastasis of tumors. Extracellular matrix stiffness increases as tumors develop and spread, with stiffer environments thought to correlate with poorer disease prognosis. Changes in extracellular stiffness and other physical characteristics are sensed by integrins which integrate these extracellular cues to intracellular signaling, resulting in modulation of proliferation and invasion. However, the co-ordination of mechano-sensitive signaling with functional changes to groups of tumor cells within 3-dimensional environments remains poorly understood. Here we provide evidence that increasing the stiffness of collagen scaffolds results in increased activation of ERK1/2 and YAP in

SUBMITTER: Jahin I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10731024 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature