ArticleNature materials2015
Fractal heterogeneity in minimal matrix models of scars modulates stiff-niche stem-cell responses via nuclear exit of a mechanorepressor.
Article in Nature materials, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
76 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 123 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mechanosensing by the nucleus: From pathways to scaling relationships.The Journal of cell biology · 2017Pooled it
- Mechanical regulation of cell memory.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2026Review
- Mechanical Intelligence in Bone Regeneration: Bridging Material and Cellular Memory for Enhanced Healing.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Differentiation of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells into CD45iScience · 2026Article
- A Comprehensive Review of Nuclear Mechanics: Advances, Disease Relevance, Methodologies, and AI Applications.Cell biochemistry and biophysics · 2026Review
- Chemomechanical remodeling of glucocorticoid-sensitive fibroblasts for multimodal synergistic therapy of skin fibrosis.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Article
- A song of heads and tails: myosin II conformational regulation and filament dynamics shape force generation in non-muscle cells.Biophysical reviews · 2026Review
- Innate Immune-Cloaked Microgel-Coated Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Reverse Persistent Pulmonary Fibrosis via Reparative Macrophages.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- Review
- Cellular mechanical memory: a potential tool for mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Review
- Classes of Stem Cells: From Biology to Engineering.Regenerative engineering and translational medicine · 2024Article
- Review
- Fascin-1 limits myosin activity in microglia to control mechanical characterization of the injured spinal cord.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2024Article
- Implications of Cellular Mechanical Memory in Bioengineering.ACS biomaterials science & engineering · 2023Review
- Article
- Niche stiffness sustains cancer stemness via TAZ and NANOG phase separation.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Tissue mechanics coevolves with fibrillar matrisomes in healthy and fibrotic tissues.Matrix biology : journal of the International Society for Matrix Biology · 2022Review
- Dedifferentiation alters chondrocyte nuclear mechanics during in vitro culture and expansion.Biophysical journal · 2022Article
- Inhibition of aberrant tissue remodelling by mesenchymal stromal cells singly coated with soft gels presenting defined chemomechanical cues.Nature biomedical engineering · 2022Article
- Roles of mesenchymal stromal cells in the head and neck cancer microenvironment.Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie · 2021Review
16 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
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Scarring is a long-lasting problem in higher animals, and reductionist approaches could aid in developing treatments. Here, we show that copolymerization of collagen I with polyacrylamide produces minimal matrix models of scars (MMMS), in which fractal-fibre bundles segregate heterogeneously to the hydrogel subsurface. Matrix stiffens locally-as in scars-while allowing separate control over adhesive-ligand density. The MMMS elicits scar-like phenotypes from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs): cells spread and polarize quickly, increasing nucleoskeletal lamin-A yet expressing the 'scar marker' smooth muscle actin (SMA) more slowly. Surprisingly, expression responses to MMMS exhibit less cell-to-cell noise than homogeneously stiff gels. Such differences from bulk-average responses arise because a strong SMA repressor, NKX2.5, slowly exits the nucleus on rigid matrices. NKX2.5 overexpression overrides rigid phenotypes, inhibiting SMA and cell spreading, whereas cytoplasm-localized NKX2.5 mutants degrade in well-spread cells. MSCs thus form a 'mechanical memory' of rigidity by progressively suppressing NKX2.5, thereby elevating SMA in a scar-like state.
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.