ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2021
The mechanics and dynamics of cancer cells sensing noisy 3D contact guidance.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Invasion dynamics of multifocal breast tumor spheroids in three-dimensional extracellular matrix.Biophysical journal · 2026Article
- MDA-MB-231 cell morphology influences chemotactic sensing of CXCL12 gradients in type 1 bovine collagen matrix.PloS one · 2026Article
- The influence of cell phenotype on collective cell invasion into the extracellular matrix.Bulletin of mathematical biology · 2025Article
- 3D multiscale shape analysis of nuclei and in vivo elastic stress sensors allows force inference.Biophysical journal · 2025Article
- Cellular EMT-status governs contact guidance in an electrospun TACS-mimickingMaterials today. Bio · 2025Article
- Coupled Dynamics in Phenotype and Tissue Spaces Shape the Three-Dimensional Cancer Invasion.PRX life · 2024Article
- Microtopography-Induced Nuclear Deformation Triggers Chromatin Reorganization and Cytoskeleton Remodeling.Chemical & biomedical imaging · 2024Article
- Cancer cell sedimentation in 3D cultures reveals active migration regulated by self-generated gradients and adhesion sites.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Engineering approaches for understanding mechanical memory in cancer metastasis.APL bioengineering · 2024Review
- Hs27 fibroblast response to contact guidance cues.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- The ECM and tissue architecture are major determinants of early invasion mediated by E-cadherin dysfunction.Communications biology · 2023Article
- An In Vitro Approach to Model EMT in Breast Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Pore size-mediated macrophage M1 to M2 transition affects osseointegration of 3D-printed PEEK scaffolds.International journal of bioprinting · 2023Article
- Micromechanical remodeling of the extracellular matrix by invading tumors: anisotropy and heterogeneity.Soft matter · 2022Article
- Unravelling cell migration: defining movement from the cell surface.Cell adhesion & migration · 2022Review
- Patterned photocrosslinking to establish stiffness anisotropies in fibrous 3D hydrogels.Acta biomaterialia · 2022Article
- Patterning ECM microstructure to investigate 3D cellular dynamics under multiplexed mechanochemical guidance.F1000Research · 2022Article
- Correlation between the Warburg effect and progression of triple-negative breast cancer.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Review
- Coupling traction force patterns and actomyosin wave dynamics reveals mechanics of cell motion.Molecular systems biology · 2021Article
- Cluster size distribution of cells disseminating from a primary tumor.PLoS computational biology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Contact guidance is a major physical cue that modulates cancer cell morphology and motility, and is directly linked to the prognosis of cancer patients. Under physiological conditions, particularly in the three-dimensional (3D) extracellular matrix (ECM), the disordered assembly of fibers presents a complex directional bias to the cells. It is unclear how cancer cells respond to these noncoherent contact guidance cues. Here we combine quantitative experiments, theoretical analysis, and computational modeling to study the morphological and migrational responses of breast cancer cells to 3D collagen ECM with varying degrees of fiber alignment. We quantify the strength of contact guidance using directional coherence of ECM fibers, and find that stronger contact guidance causes cells to polarize more strongly along the principal direction of the fibers. Interestingly, sensitivity to contact guidance is positively correlated with cell aspect ratio, with elongated cells responding more strongly to ECM alignment than rounded cells. Both experiments and simulations show that cell-ECM adhesions and actomyosin contractility modulate cell responses to contact guidance by inducing a population shift between rounded and elongated cells. We also find that cells rapidly change their morphology when navigating the ECM, and that ECM fiber coherence modulates cell transition rates between different morphological phenotypes. Taken together, we find that subcellular processes that integrate conflicting mechanical cues determine cell morphology, which predicts the polarization and migration dynamics of cancer cells in 3D ECM.
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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.