Cells and tissues generate and are exposed to various mechanical forces that act across a
range of scales, from tissues to cells to organelles. Forces provide crucial signals to inform …

Mechanical forces shape cells and tissues during development and adult homeostasis. In
addition, they also signal to cells via mechanotransduction pathways to control cell …

The immense diversity of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins confers distinct biochemical
and biophysical properties that influence cell phenotype. The ECM is highly dynamic as it is …

Macrophages are innate immune cells that adhere to the extracellular matrix within tissues.
However, how matrix properties regulate their function remains poorly understood. Here, we …

Most tissues of the human body are characterized by highly anisotropic physical properties
and biological organization. Hydrogels have been proposed as scaffolding materials to …

E-cadherin is a key component of the adherens junctions that are integral in cell adhesion
and maintaining epithelial phenotype of cells. Homophilic E-cadherin binding between cells …

Integrins are heterodimeric cell surface receptors ensuring the mechanical connection
between cells and the extracellular matrix. In addition to the anchorage of cells to the …

The tumor micro-environment often contains stiff and irregular-bundled collagen fibers that
are used by tumor cells to disseminate. It is still unclear how and to what extent, extracellular …

ABSTRACT YAP and TAZ proteins are transcriptional coactivators encoded by paralogous
genes, which shuttle between the cytoplasm and the nucleus in response to multiple inputs …

Breast cancer progression features ECM stiffening due to excess deposition and
crosslinking of collagen, which dramatically influence tumor behaviour and fate. The …