Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40307238›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Viscoelastic extracellular matrix enhances epigenetic remodeling and cellular plasticity.

Yifan Wu, Yang Song, Jennifer Soto, Tyler Hoffman, Xiao Lin, Aaron Zhang, Siyu Chen, Ramzi N Massad, Xiao Han, Dongping Qi and 7 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

34 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Mechanical regulation of cell memory.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Substrate Stiffness and Viscoelasticity Influence Fibroblast Senescence.Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A · 2026
    Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Amoeboid-mesenchymal transition and the proteolytic control of cancer invasion plasticity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  13. Review
  14. Investigating Phase Separation in Genome Folding via Multiscale Computational Modeling.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Review
  15. Mechanomedicine.Nature reviews bioengineering · 2026
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Yifan WuDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Yang Song *Department of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Jennifer Soto *Department of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Tyler HoffmanDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Xiao LinDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Aaron ZhangDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Siyu ChenDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Ramzi N MassadDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Xiao HanDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Dongping QiDepartment of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1624-8142
Kun-Wei YehDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Zhiwei FangDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.
Joon EohDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.
Luo GuDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9813-7202
Amy C RowatDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Zhen GuDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2947-4456
Song LiDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. songli@ucla.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4760-8828

Funding

Women's CancersP30CA016042 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI Robert Damoiseaux · 1985 to 2026
$134.5M
Mechanopriming for cell engineeringR01NS130677 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI Song Li · 2023 to 2026
$2.1M
Regulation of cell reprogramming by matrix stiffnessR01GM143485 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI LI, SONG · 2021 to 2024
$1.3M
National Science Foundation (NSF) CMMI-2135747NCI NIH HHS P30 CA016042NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM143485NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS130677U.S. Department of Defense (United States Department of Defense) Ovarian Cancer Research Fund TEAL Expansion AwardU.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) GM143485U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) NS130677
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Extracellular matrices of living tissues exhibit viscoelastic properties, yet how these properties regulate chromatin and the epigenome remains unclear. Here, we show that viscoelastic substrates induce changes in nuclear architecture and epigenome, with more pronounced effects on softer surfaces. Fibroblasts on viscoelastic substrates display larger nuclei, lower chromatin compaction, and differential expression of distinct sets of genes related to the cytoskeleton and nuclear function, compared to those on elastic surfaces. Slow-relaxing viscoelastic substrates reduce lamin A/C expression and enhance nuclear remodeling. These structural changes are accompanied by a global increase in euchromatin marks and local increase in chromatin accessibility at cis-regulatory elements associated with neuronal and pluripotent genes. Consequently, viscoelastic substrates improve the reprogramming efficiency from fibroblasts into neurons and induced pluripotent stem cells. Collectively, our findings unravel the roles of matrix viscoelasticity in epigenetic regulation and cell reprogramming, with implications for designing smart materials for cell fate engineering.

Indexed as

Cell PlasticityEpigenesis, GeneticExtracellular MatrixAnimalsCell NucleusCellular ReprogrammingChromatinElasticityFibroblastsHumansInduced Pluripotent Stem CellsLamin Type AMiceNeuronsViscosityChromatinLamin Type A

Identifiers

PMID40307238
PMCPMC12043949

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.