title: Mechanotransduction in cancer.
abstract: Tissue stiffness is tightly controlled under normal conditions, but changes with disease. In cancer, tumors often tend to be stiffer than the surrounding uninvolved tissue, yet the cells themselves soften. Within the past decade, and particularly in the last few years, there is increasing evidence that the stiffness of the extracellular matrix modulates cancer and stromal cell mechanics and function, influencing such disease hallmarks as angiogenesis, migration, and metastasis. This review briefly summarizes recent studies that investigate how cancer cells and fibrosis-relevant stromal cells respond to ECM stiffness, the possible sensing appendages and signaling mechanisms involved, and the emergence of novel substrates - including substrates with scar-like fractal heterogeneity - that mimic thein vivomechanical environment of the cancer cell.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and the Institute for Medicine and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Physical Sciences in Oncology Center at Penn (PSOC@Penn), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Clinical Research Center for Diabetes, Tokushima University Hospital, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: LiKang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.affiliation: Physical Sciences in Oncology Center at Penn (PSOC@Penn), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Molecular & Cell Biophysics and NanoBioPolymers Labs, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Yuntao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Physical Sciences in Oncology Center at Penn (PSOC@Penn), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Molecular & Cell Biophysics and NanoBioPolymers Labs, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Dennis E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Discher
authors.affiliation: Physical Sciences in Oncology Center at Penn (PSOC@Penn), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Clinical Research Center for Diabetes, Tokushima University Hospital, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Janmey