ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2016
Fibrous nonlinear elasticity enables positive mechanical feedback between cells and ECMs.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 197 papers.
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Who cites it
197 citing papers in PubMed, 361 citations in OpenAlex.
- Beyond stiffness: interfacial slippage and active cellular matrix remodelling in focal adhesion dynamics.European biophysics journal : EBJ · 2026Review
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- Invasion dynamics of multifocal breast tumor spheroids in three-dimensional extracellular matrix.Biophysical journal · 2026Article
- Composition Matters: Collagen vs Polyacrylamide Modulates Distinct Trabecular Meshwork Cell Traction.ACS biomaterials science & engineering · 2026Article
- Vimentin promotes collective cell migration through collagen networks via increased matrix remodeling and spheroid fluidity.Communications biology · 2026Article
- 3D-Printing-Assisted, Microfabricated Devices Reveal Hierarchical and Temporal Mechanosensing in High-Density Fibroblast Culture.ACS nano · 2026Article
- Development of collagenous filaments with tuneable mechanical properties using a 3D bioprinter and molecular crowding.Biofabrication · 2026Article
- An agent-based model suggests how senescent cell behavior and matrix mechanics drive pulmonary fibrosis in aged mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Cell shape and maturation impacts α-actinin-2 tension in iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes.APL bioengineering · 2026Article
- Traction force transmission via bioactive matrix hydrogel promotes epithelial collective migration mediated by integrin.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Toward continuous monitoring systems: emerging trends of on-chip sensors in organ-on-a-chip.Microsystems & nanoengineering · 2026Review
- Mechanobiology of the Nucleolus.Biology of the cell · 2026Review
- Spatiotemporal dynamics and regulation of suture morphology and collagen remodeling during trans-sutural distraction osteogenesis.NPJ Regenerative medicine · 2026Article
- Piezo1 induces Wnt7bTheranostics · 2026Article
- Extracellular matrix physical properties regulate cancer cell morphological transitions in 3D hydrogel microtissues.Acta biomaterialia · 2026Article
- Mechanical Signaling: Molecular Mechanisms, Biological Functions, Diseases, and Therapeutic Targets.MedComm · 2025Review
- 3D force microscopy for volumetric quantification of ultrasound-induced loading: applications for bone repair.Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology · 2025Article
- Deep learning reveals how cells pull, buckle, and navigate fibrous environments.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Quantifying cell traction forces at the single-fiber scale in 3D: An approach based on deformable photopolymerized fiber arrays.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
137 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
In native states, animal cells of many types are supported by a fibrous network that forms the main structural component of the ECM. Mechanical interactions between cells and the 3D ECM critically regulate cell function, including growth and migration. However, the physical mechanism that governs the cell interaction with fibrous 3D ECM is still not known. In this article, we present single-cell traction force measurements using breast tumor cells embedded within 3D collagen matrices. We recreate the breast tumor mechanical environment by controlling the microstructure and density of type I collagen matrices. Our results reveal a positive mechanical feedback loop: cells pulling on collagen locally align and stiffen the matrix, and stiffer matrices, in return, promote greater cell force generation and a stiffer cell body. Furthermore, cell force transmission distance increases with the degree of strain-induced fiber alignment and stiffening of the collagen matrices. These findings highlight the importance of the nonlinear elasticity of fibrous matrices in regulating cell-ECM interactions within a 3D context, and the cell force regulation principle that we uncover may contribute to the rapid mechanical tissue stiffening occurring in many diseases, including cancer and fibrosis.
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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.