Integrin-Piezo1 Axis Drives ECM Remodeling and Invasion of 3D Breast Epithelium.

ABSTRACT: Stiffening of tissue is a hallmark of cancer progression, promoting invasive phenotypes through altered cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions. However, how fully formed epithelial structures respond to mechanical cues within their native ECM environment remains poorly understood. Here, using a 3D in situ stiffening hydrogel system that enables modulation of stiffness around mature normal mammary acini, it uncovers critical steps in ECM remodeling and invasion of epithelial structures and discover molecular mechanisms driving this process. Stiffening around mature acini triggers two temporally distinct phases of epithelial remodeling, a rapid priming phase involving basement membrane (laminin, LN) disruption and fibronectin (FN) secretion, followed by a delayed invasion phase charact

SUBMITTER: Sakthivel K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12849879 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature