ArticleThe Journal of cell biology2003
ROCK-generated contractility regulates breast epithelial cell differentiation in response to the physical properties of a three-dimensional collagen matrix.
Article in The Journal of cell biology, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 272 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
272 citing papers in PubMed, 524 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bone-like Collagen Matrices Through Rapid Intrafibrillar Mineralisation.Journal of functional biomaterials · 2026Article
- The pro-metastatic role of microbiota in tumors: a comprehensive review.Cancer cell international · 2026Review
- Tubulogenesis of bovine uterine glands by epidermal growth factor and collagen I in 3D culture systems.Bioscience reports · 2026Article
- Recent progress in polymeric ultrafine fibrous scaffolds for enabling cell infiltration in tissue engineering.Journal of biomaterials applications · 2026Review
- A tale of two distinct actin networks underlies the entire life cycle of focal adhesion.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Epidermal growth factor receptor is an essential component in E-cadherin force transduction complexes.Journal of cell science · 2025Article
- Engineered basement membrane mimetic hydrogels to study mammary epithelial morphogenesis and invasion.Science advances · 2025Article
- Targeting cancer cell stiffness and metastasis with clinical therapeutics.Clinical & experimental metastasis · 2025Review
- Unveiling Matrix Metalloproteinase 13's Dynamic Role in Breast Cancer: A Link to Physical Changes and Prognostic Modulation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Forcing the code: tension modulates signaling to drive morphogenesis and malignancy.Genes & development · 2025Review
- Synthetic, multi-dynamic hydrogels by uniting stress-stiffening and supramolecular polymers.Science advances · 2024Article
- Tumor Biomechanics Alters Metastatic Dissemination of Triple Negative Breast Cancer via Rewiring Fatty Acid Metabolism.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Metabolic-Glycoengineering-Enabled Molecularly Specific Acoustic Tweezing Cytometry for Targeted Mechanical Stimulation of Cell Surface Sialoglycans.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2024Article
- Quantitative analysis of fibrillar collagen organization in the immediate proximity of embedded fibroblasts in 3D collagen hydrogels.Journal of biosciences · 2024Article
- A roadmap for developing and engineeringBiophysics reviews · 2023Review
- Mechanically primed cells transfer memory to fibrous matrices for invasion across environments of distinct stiffness and dimensionality.Molecular biology of the cell · 2023Article
- Differential contractility regulates cancer stem cell migration.Biophysical journal · 2023Article
- Self-assembly of mesoscale collagen architectures and applications in 3D cell migration.Acta biomaterialia · 2023Article
- The role of matrix stiffness in breast cancer progression: a review.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Review
- Challenges and Opportunities Modeling the Dynamic Tumor Matrisome.BME frontiers · 2023Review
212 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Breast epithelial cells differentiate into tubules when cultured in floating three-dimensional (3D) collagen gels, but not when the cells are cultured in the same collagen matrix that is attached to the culture dish. These observations suggest that the biophysical properties of collagenous matrices regulate epithelial differentiation, but the mechanism by which this occurs is unknown. Tubulogenesis required the contraction of floating collagen gels through Rho and ROCK-mediated contractility. ROCK-mediated contractility diminished Rho activity in a floating 3D collagen gel, and corresponded to a loss of FAK phosphorylated at Y397 localized to 3D matrix adhesions. Increasing the density of floating 3D collagen gels also disrupted tubulogenesis, promoted FAK phosphorylation, and sustained high Rho activity. These data demonstrate the novel finding that breast epithelial cells sense the rigidity or density of their environment via ROCK-mediated contractility and a subsequent down-regulation of Rho and FAK function, which is necessary for breast epithelial tubulogenesis to occur.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.