ArticleNature communications2023
Niche stiffness sustains cancer stemness via TAZ and NANOG phase separation.
Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Review
- The tumor microenvironment in pancreatic cancer: from composition to therapeutic targeting.Biochemical Society transactions · 2026Review
- Targeting YAP: mechanistic breakthroughs and therapeutic prospects in reversing organ fibrosis.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2026Review
- Mediator subunit MED4 enforces metastatic dormancy in breast cancer.Nature cell biology · 2026Article
- IGFL2-AS1 is associated with poor prognosis in cervical cancer and promotes disease progression via the miR-126-5p/MACC1 axis.Molecular biology reports · 2026Article
- Review
- IQGAP3 bridges matrix stiffness with glioma stem cell maintenance and radioresistance by stabilizing SOX2.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The mechano-immunological landscape in the tumor microenvironment: From mechanical sensing to a new therapeutic paradigm.Materials today. Bio · 2026Review
- Multi-modal circulating cell-free DNA profiling to predict response to docetaxel in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.NPJ precision oncology · 2026Article
- Smart hydrogels for overcoming cancer multidrug resistance.Molecular cancer · 2026Review
- Microenvironment-Guided Evolution of ssDNA-SWCNT Probes for Selective Recognition of Aggressive Prostate Cancer Phenotypes.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Obesity- and tumor-derived signals drive cancer-associated state transitions in breast mesenchymal stromal/stem cells reprogrammed by IL1RA or JAK inhibition.Experimental hematology & oncology · 2026Article
- EGR1 Nuclear Condensates Promote Renal Cyst Development in Polycystic Kidney Disease.Exploration (Beijing, China) · 2026Article
- WDR5 remodels NANOG condensates to drive transcriptional programs and sustain stem cell identity.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Sulforaphane as a Multi-Scale Mechano-Modulator in Cancer: An Integrative Perspective.Biology · 2026Article
- Reimagining AHR in Cancer: From Environmental Sensor to Novel Immunomodulatory Therapeutic Target.International journal of biological sciences · 2026Review
- Condensatopathies as a mechanistic framework for disease and integrated theranostic intervention.Theranostics · 2026Review
- Mechanotransduction in glioma stem cell fate determination: from niche mechanics to therapeutic vulnerability and state plasticity.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Cancer Drug Resistance: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities.Oncology research · 2026Review
- Matrix stiffness maintains bladder cancer stemness via integrin-nuclear skeleton axis.Cell death & disease · 2025Article
4 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
17 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Emerging evidence shows that the biomechanical environment is required to support cancer stem cells (CSCs), which play a crucial role in drug resistance. However, how mechanotransduction signals regulate CSCs and its clinical significance has remained unclear. Using clinical-practice ultrasound elastography for patients' lesions and atomic force microscopy for surgical samples, we reveal that increased matrix stiffness is associated with poor responses to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, worse prognosis, and CSC enrichment in patients with breast cancer. Mechanically, TAZ activated by biomechanics enhances CSC properties via phase separation with NANOG. TAZ-NANOG phase separation, which is dependent on acidic residues in the N-terminal activation domain of NANOG, promotes the transcription of SOX2 and OCT4. Therapeutically, targeting NANOG or TAZ reduces CSCs and enhances the chemosensitivity in vivo. Collectively, this study demonstrated that the phase separation of a pluripotency transcription factor links mechanical cues in the niche to the fate of CSCs.
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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.