Tissue Force Programs Cell Fate and Tumor Aggression
Abstract
Biomechanical and biochemical cues within a tissue collaborate across length scales to direct cell fate during development and are critical for the maintenance of tissue homeostasis. Loss of tensional homeostasis in a tissue not only accompanies malignancy but may also contribute to oncogenic transformation. High mechanical stress in solid tumors can impede drug delivery and may additionally drive tumor progression and promote metastasis. Mechanistically, biomechanical forces can drive tumor aggression by inducing a mesenchymal-like switch in transformed cells so that they attain tumor-initiating or stem-like cell properties. Given that cancer stem cells have been linked to metastasis and treatment resistance, this raises the intriguing possibility that the elevated tissue mechanics in tumors could promote their aggression by programming their phenotype toward that exhibited by a stem-like cell.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1158/2159-8290.cd-16-0733
Entities
People
- Jason J. Northey
- Laralynne Przybyla
- Valerie M Weaver
Organizations
- American Association for Cancer Research
- California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
- National Institutes of Health
- United States Department of Defense
- University of California, San Francisco