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Updated: Sep 7, 2026

All-optical Mechanobiology Interrogation of Yes-associated Protein in Human Cancer and Normal Cells using a Multi-functional System
Published on: December 20, 2021
Turning resistance into therapeutic vulnerability: Mechano-reprogramming in cancer
Yunjia Qu1,2, Yingxiao Wang1,2
1Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Quantitative Computational Biology, Department of Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine, Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
Abstract:
Cancer mechanics is often framed as a progression from compliant normal tissue to a stiff, fibrotic tumor. Yet this tissue-level description conceals a second and therapeutically consequential feature: rigid tumors can contain mechanically soft cancer-cell states and localized compliant niches. These mechanically soft states are associated with stem-like plasticity, invasive potential and resistance to cytotoxic lymphocytes. Converting the mechanical signals that define these resistant states into therapeutic outputs may open a new direction for solid-tumor immunotherapy.
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