ArticleIntegrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro2011
In situ force mapping of mammary gland transformation.
Article in Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 170 papers.
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Who cites it
170 citing papers in PubMed, 284 citations in OpenAlex.
- Stiff stroma increases breast cancer risk by inducing the oncogene ZNF217.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2020Trial
- High resolution in vivo characterization of apparent diffusion coefficient at the tumor-stromal boundary of breast carcinomas: a pilot study to assess treatment response using proximity-dependent diffusion-weighted imaging.Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI · 2014Trial
- TGF-β upregulates miR-181a expression to promote breast cancer metastasis.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2013Trial
- Atomic force microscopy-based nanomechanical signatures as cancer biomarkers in a nutshell.FEBS letters · 2026Review
- The extracellular matrix in inflammation and cancer.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- Compressive stress-driven Piezo1 activation and Rho-ROCK mechanotransduction promote tumor progression via epigenetic mechanical memory.Science advances · 2026Article
- Polycystin-1 Mutant Alters Mechanotransduction in Response to Collagen and Extracellular Matrix Stiffness via Daam1-Dependent Microfilament Remodeling.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Mechanical regulation of extracellular vesicle activity during tumour progression.Nature biomedical engineering · 2025Review
- Tissue mechanics in tumor heterogeneity and aggression.Trends in cancer · 2025Review
- Matrix Stiffness Regulates TGFβ1-Induced αSMA Expression via a G9a-LATS-YAP Signaling Cascade.FASEB bioAdvances · 2025Article
- Palmitic Acid Accumulation Activates Fibroblasts and Promotes Matrix Stiffness in Colorectal Cancer.Cancer research · 2025Article
- Review
- Gravitational forces and matrix stiffness modulate the invasiveness of breast cancer cells in bioprinted spheroids.Materials today. Bio · 2025Article
- From ductal carcinoma in situ to invasive breast cancer: the prognostic value of the extracellular microenvironment.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2024Review
- Matrix stiffness drives drop like nuclear deformation and lamin A/C tension-dependent YAP nuclear localization.Nature communications · 2024Article
- The Role of eHsp90 in Extracellular Matrix Remodeling, Tumor Invasiveness, and Metastasis.Cancers · 2024Review
- Review
- Extracellular Matrix Components and Mechanosensing Pathways in Health and Disease.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Myofibroblasts derived type V collagen promoting tissue mechanical stress and facilitating metastasis and therapy resistance of lung adenocarcinoma cells.Cell death & disease · 2024Article
- Insights into the mechanobiology of cancer metastasis via microfluidic technologies.APL bioengineering · 2024Review
110 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 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Tumor progression is characterized by an incremental stiffening of the tissue. The importance of tissue rigidity to cancer is appreciated, yet the contribution of specific tissue elements to tumor stiffening and their physiological significance remains unclear. We performed high-resolution atomic force microscopy indentation in live and snap-frozen fluorescently labeled mammary tissues to explore the origin of the tissue stiffening associated with mammary tumor development in PyMT mice. The tumor epithelium, the tumor-associated vasculature and the extracellular matrix all contributed to mammary gland stiffening as it transitioned from normal to invasive carcinoma. Consistent with the concept that extracellular matrix stiffness modifies cell tension, we found that isolated transformed mammary epithelial cells were intrinsically stiffer than their normal counterparts but that the malignant epithelium in situ was far stiffer than isolated breast tumor cells. Moreover, using an in situ vitrification approach, we determined that the extracellular matrix adjacent to the epithelium progressively stiffened as tissue evolved from normal through benign to an invasive state. Importantly, we also noted that there was significant mechanical heterogeneity within the transformed tissue both in the epithelium and the tumor-associated neovasculature. The vascular bed within the tumor core was substantially stiffer than the large patent vessels at the invasive front that are surrounded by the stiffest extracellular matrix. These findings clarify the contribution of individual mammary gland tissue elements to the altered biomechanical landscape of cancerous tissues and emphasize the importance of studying cancer cell evolution under conditions that preserve native interactions.
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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.