ArticleeLife2018
Transient external force induces phenotypic reversion of malignant epithelial structures via nitric oxide signaling.
Article in eLife, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 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.
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.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Compressive stress-driven Piezo1 activation and Rho-ROCK mechanotransduction promote tumor progression via epigenetic mechanical memory.Science advances · 2026Article
- Probing the physical hallmarks of cancer.Nature methods · 2025Review
- Pheno-Morphological Screening and Acoustic Sorting of 3D Multicellular Aggregates Using Drop Millifluidics.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Mechanical models and measurement methods of solid stress in tumors.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2024Review
- Biophysics in tumor growth and progression: from single mechano-sensitive molecules to mechanomedicine.Oncogene · 2023Review
- EFFECT OF MAMMOGRAPHY IMAGING PROCEDURE ON SERUM INFLAMMATORY AND/OR TUMOR MARKER LEVELS.Acta clinica Croatica · 2023Article
- Microdevice-based mechanical compression on living cells.iScience · 2022Review
- The nonlinear motion of cells subject to external forces.Soft matter · 2022Article
- Compression enhances invasive phenotype and matrix degradation of breast Cancer cells via Piezo1 activation.BMC molecular and cell biology · 2022Article
- Origin of Cancer: Cell work is the Key to Understanding Cancer Initiation and Progression.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022Article
- Reverting to single-cell biology: The predictions of the atavism theory of cancer.Progress in biophysics and molecular biology · 2021Article
- Cells under pressure.eLife · 2021Article
- The not-so-sweet side of sugar: Influence of the microenvironment on the processes that unleash cancer.Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of disease · 2020Review
- In vivo compression and imaging in mouse brain to measure the effects of solid stress.Nature protocols · 2020Article
- The Mechanical Microenvironment in Breast Cancer.Cancers · 2020Review
- Correction of arginine metabolism with sepiapterin-the precursor of nitric oxide synthase cofactor BHBiochemical pharmacology · 2020Article
- Stiffness Sensing by Cells.Physiological reviews · 2020Review
- Transplanted stem cells survive a long time: do they make you sick?Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2019Article
- Beyond proteases: Basement membrane mechanics and cancer invasion.The Journal of cell biology · 2019Review
- Reduced Basal Nitric Oxide Production Induces Precancerous Mammary Lesions via ERBB2 and TGFβ.Scientific reports · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Non-malignant breast epithelial cells cultured in three-dimensional laminin-rich extracellular matrix (lrECM) form well organized, growth-arrested acini, whereas malignant cells form continuously growing disorganized structures. While the mechanical properties of the microenvironment have been shown to contribute to formation of tissue-specific architecture, how transient external force influences this behavior remains largely unexplored. Here, we show that brief transient compression applied to single malignant breast cells in lrECM stimulated them to form acinar-like structures, a phenomenon we term 'mechanical reversion.' This is analogous to previously described phenotypic 'reversion' using biochemical inhibitors of oncogenic pathways. Compression stimulated nitric oxide production by malignant cells. Inhibition of nitric oxide production blocked mechanical reversion. Compression also restored coherent rotation in malignant cells, a behavior that is essential for acinus formation. We propose that external forces applied to single malignant cells restore cell-lrECM engagement and signaling lost in malignancy, allowing them to reestablish normal-like tissue architecture.
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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.