BACKGROUND Historically, cancer has been considered a disease of the cell, caused by
mutations in genes that control proliferation, differentiation, and death. In recent decades …

Nanoparticle (NP)-based therapeutics have ushered in a new era in translational medicine.
However, despite the clinical success of NP technology, it is not well-understood how NPs …

As a major component of the human body, the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex
biopolymer network. The ECM not only hosts a plethora of biochemical interactions but also …

Forces generated by cells are critical regulators of cell adhesion, signaling, and function,
and they are also essential drivers in the morphogenetic events of development. Over the …

Stem cells regulate their fate by binding to, and contracting against, the extracellular matrix.
Recently, it has been proposed that in addition to matrix stiffness and ligand type, the degree …

Cancer has been characterized as a genetic disease, associated with mutations that cause
pathological alterations of the cell cycle, adhesion, or invasive motility. Recently, the …

The extracellular matrix is a complex network of hydrated macromolecular proteins and
sugars that, in concert with bound soluble factors, comprise the acellular stromal …

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is the noncellular component present within all tissues and
organs, and provides not only essential physical scaffolding for the cellular constituents but …

Extracellular proteolysis mediates tissue homeostasis. In cancer, altered proteolysis leads to
unregulated tumor growth, tissue remodeling, inflammation, tissue invasion, and metastasis …

Metastasis is a complex, multistep process responsible for> 90% of cancer-related deaths. In
addition to genetic and external environmental factors, the physical interactions of cancer …