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Updated: Mar 22, 2026

Concentric Gel System to Study the Biophysical Role of Matrix Microenvironment on 3D Cell Migration
Published on: April 3, 2015
Force Matters: Biomechanical Regulation of Cell Invasion and Migration in Disease
FuiBoon Kai1, Hanane Laklai1, Valerie M Weaver2
1Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration, Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Abstract:
Atherosclerosis, cancer, and various chronic fibrotic conditions are characterized by an increase in the migratory behavior of resident cells and the enhanced invasion of assorted exogenous cells across a stiffened extracellular matrix (ECM). This stiffened scaffold aberrantly engages cellular mechanosignaling networks in cells, which promotes the assembly of invadosomes and lamellae for cell invasion and migration. Accordingly, deciphering the conserved molecular mechanisms whereby matrix stiffness fosters invadosome and lamella formation could identify therapeutic targets to treat fibrotic conditions, and reducing ECM stiffness could ameliorate disease progression.
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