Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40832480›Full record

ArticleResearch (Washington, D.C.)2025

Mechanical Cell Reprogramming on Tissue-Mimicking Hydrogels for Cancer Cell Transdifferentiation.

Xueqing Ren, Yachao Wang, Mengcheng Lei, Yi Zou, Pengjie Li, Fukang Qi, Jinyun Shi, Han Xie, Mingyu Zhang, Wenhui Wang and 4 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Research (Washington, D.C.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Xueqing RenKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Yachao WangHenan Key Laboratory of Chronic Disease Prevention and Therapy & Intelligent Health Management, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, P. R. China.
Mengcheng LeiKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Yi ZouKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Pengjie LiKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Fukang QiKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Jinyun ShiKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Han XieKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Mingyu ZhangKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Wenhui WangKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Lian XueKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Peng ChenKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Bi-Feng LiuKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
Yiwei LiKey Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of MOE and Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology-Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics of MOE at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5203-0290

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Disrupted matrix mechanics have been found to be highly associated with increased risks of many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases and cancers. For centuries, the aged tissue matrix has been found to lose its mechanical integrity and exhibit altered biophysical properties. Whether the mechanical properties of matrix serve as a regulator for maintaining the health and function of cells remains unknown. Here, we propose that cells cultured within a tissue-mimicking mechanical microenvironment exhibit reprogrammed cellular behaviors. We first construct a tissue-mimicking hydrogel by combining both viscoelastic and nonlinear elastic components, on which fibroblasts crowd together to form mesenchymal aggregates instead of individually spreading out. The mesenchymal aggregates not only obtain the elevated expression of stemness genes but also exhibit enhanced bidirectional differentiation potentials. The formation of mesenchymal aggregates happens through the reorganization of the collagen network induced by the enhanced cell contraction. Compromising the cell contraction not only prevents the formation of mesenchymal aggregates but also eliminates cell reprogramming. Additionally, this mechanical reprogramming with tissue-mimicking hydrogels has been applied to non-small-lung cancer cells and promotes their adipogenic transdifferentiation, which eventually reverses their epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition genes and suppresses the expression of oncogenes/pro-oncogenes. Thus, our study paves the way for both regenerative medicine and cancer treatments with an approach termed mechanical reprogramming on tissue-mimicking hydrogels.

Identifiers

PMID40832480
PMCPMC12358751

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