ArticleCellular and molecular bioengineering2014
Nuclear deformability constitutes a rate-limiting step during cell migration in 3-D environments.
Article in Cellular and molecular bioengineering, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 197 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
197 citing papers in PubMed, 323 citations in OpenAlex.
- Septins buffer actomyosin forces to protect the nucleus from genotoxic mechanical stress.The Journal of cell biology · 2026Article
- Nuclei on the move: LINC complex-dependent and -independent mechanisms of nuclear migration in development.Nucleus (Austin, Tex.) · 2026Review
- Nuclear mechanobiology in confined cell migration.Nucleus (Austin, Tex.) · 2026Review
- Nuclear mechanobiology: a brief history and five unresolved questions.Nucleus (Austin, Tex.) · 2026Article
- Nuclear envelope rupture and resealing: mechanisms, consequences, and disease implications.Biochemical Society transactions · 2026Review
- In vivo DNA damage protection during cell migration across confining embryonic tissue environments.Nature cell biology · 2026Article
- Adaptive motility enables neutrophils to rapidly navigate confined capillaries.Science immunology · 2026Article
- Pulmonary Capillary Confinement Shapes A Motile Anuclear Neutrophil State.Research square · 2026Article
- Invasion dynamics of multifocal breast tumor spheroids in three-dimensional extracellular matrix.Biophysical journal · 2026Article
- Weakening the nuclear envelope: Lamin B receptor in melanoma metastasis.Molecular oncology · 2026Article
- Prostaglandins regulate the nucleoskeleton during Drosophila border cell migration.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Shaping neutrophil morphology and function: the importance of a segmented nucleus.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2026Review
- Nuclear Mechanics and Nuclear Mechanotransduction in Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- A predictive mechanochemical modeling framework for the deformation and remodeling of the nuclear lamina.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Deep Invaginations of Nuclear Envelope Coordinate Spatial Organization of Chromatin in Epithelium.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A Comprehensive Review of Nuclear Mechanics: Advances, Disease Relevance, Methodologies, and AI Applications.Cell biochemistry and biophysics · 2026Review
- A tailored fit: How intermediate filaments orchestrate glioblastoma invasion.Mechanobiology in medicine · 2026Article
- Lamin B receptor upregulation in metastatic melanoma causes nuclear envelope fragility in confined migration during cancer invasion.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Mechanobiology of the Nucleolus.Biology of the cell · 2026Review
- Reversibility of Nuclear and 3D Genomic Changes in Non-Cancerous Fibroblasts After Constricted Migration.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
137 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
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Cell motility plays a critical role in many physiological and pathological settings, ranging from wound healing to cancer metastasis. While cell migration on 2-dimensional (2-D) substrates has been studied for decades, the physical challenges cells face when moving in 3-D environments are only now emerging. In particular, the cell nucleus, which occupies a large fraction of the cell volume and is normally substantially stiffer than the surrounding cytoplasm, may impose a major obstacle when cells encounter narrow constrictions in the interstitial space, the extracellular matrix, or small capillaries. Using novel microfluidic devices that allow observation of cells moving through precisely defined geometries at high spatial and temporal resolution, we determined nuclear deformability as a critical factor in the cells' ability to pass through constrictions smaller than the size of the nucleus. Furthermore, we found that cells with reduced levels of the nuclear envelope proteins lamins A/C, which are the main determinants of nuclear stiffness, passed significantly faster through narrow constrictions during active migration and passive perfusion. Given recent reports that many human cancers have altered lamin expression, our findings suggest a novel biophysical mechanism by which changes in nuclear structure and composition may promote cancer cell invasion and metastasis.
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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.