Directional cues in the tumor microenvironment due to cell contraction against aligned collagen fibers.

ABSTRACT: It is well established that collagen alignment in the breast tumor microenvironment provides biophysical cues to drive disease progression. Numerous mechanistic studies have demonstrated that tumor cell behavior is driven by the architecture and stiffness of the collagen matrix. However, the mechanical properties within a 3D collagen microenvironment, particularly at the scale of the cell, remain poorly defined. To investigate cell-scale mechanical cues with respect to local collagen architecture, we employed a combination of intravital imaging of the mammary tumor microenvironment and a 3D collagen gel system with both acellular pNIPAAm microspheres and MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cells. Within the in vivo tumor microenvironment, the displacement of collagen fiber was identified in respon

SUBMITTER: Szulczewski JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8848478 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature