https://www.seas.upenn.edu/%7Edischer/pdfs/Cell_on_Gel-CELLpaper.pdf

Matrix elasticity directs stem cell lineage specification.

Normal tissue cells are generally not viable when suspended in a fluid and are therefore said to be anchorage dependent. Such cells must adhere to a solid, but a solid can be as rigid as glass or softer than a baby's skin. The behavior of some cells on soft materials is characteristic of important phenotypes; for example, cell growth on soft agar gels is used to identify cancer cells. However, an understanding of how tissue cells-including fibroblasts, myocytes, neurons, and other cell types-sense matrix stiffness is just emerging with quantitative studies of cells adhering to gels (or to other cells) with which elasticity can be tuned to approximate that of tissues. Key roles in molecular pathways are played by adhesion complexes and the actinmyosin cytoskeleton, whose contractile forces are transmitted through transcellular structures. The feedback of local matrix stiffness on cell state likely has important implications for development, differentiation, disease, and regeneration.

/pdf/tissue-cells-feel-and-respond-to-the-stiffness-of-their-6dx0rumap6.pdf

Tissue Cells Feel and Respond to the Stiffness of Their Substrate

https://www.cellmechanics.org/downloads/Paszek_cancercell_2005.pdf

Tensional homeostasis and the malignant phenotype.

http://basicmed.med.ncku.edu.tw/admin/up_img/990319-2.pdf

Matrix Crosslinking Forces Tumor Progression by Enhancing Integrin Signaling

Stem cell fate is influenced by a number of factors and interactions that require robust control for safe and effective regeneration of functional tissue. Coordinated interactions with soluble factors, other cells, and extracellular matrices define a local biochemical and mechanical niche with complex and dynamic regulation that stem cells sense. Decellularized tissue matrices and synthetic polymer niches are being used in the clinic, and they are also beginning to clarify fundamental aspects of how stem cells contribute to homeostasis and repair, for example, at sites of fibrosis. Multifaceted technologies are increasingly required to produce and interrogate cells ex vivo, to build predictive models, and, ultimately, to enhance stem cell integration in vivo for therapeutic benefit.

/pdf/growth-factors-matrices-and-forces-combine-and-control-stem-4daxw4e632.pdf

Growth Factors, Matrices, and Forces Combine and Control Stem Cells

http://chemotaxis.semmelweis.hu/CHTXhpg/Durotaxis/LoCM_BiophysJ_2000.pdf

Hong Bei Wang

Papers

Cell Movement Is Guided by the Rigidity of the Substrate