Matrix Stiffness Directs Stemness Signatures in Breast Cancer
Chantal Kopecky, Elvis Pandzic, Sean Porazinski, J Justin Gooding, Kristopher A Kilian · 2026
Read Matrix Stiffness Directs Stemness Signatures in Breast Cancer by Chantal Kopecky, Elvis Pandzic, Sean Porazinski, J Justin Gooding, Kristopher A Kilian (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13410852.txt.
Description
Chantal Kopecky and colleagues show in 2026 that the stiffness of the gel around breast cancer cells steers how stem-like those cells become. Flexible cells that can change type help tumors spread and resist drugs. Surroundings are part of that story, since tissue stiffness varies across a tumor.
Flat patterned gels and printed three-dimensional matrices let the team set stiffness precisely. Soft matrices pushed cells toward stem-like traits, raised a marker called ALDH1, and made them harder to kill with two drugs. Stiff matrices kept cells in a more settled, mature state. A surface marker also switched form with stiffness. Printed matrices copied the flat results, offering a lifelike test bed.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Chantal Kopecky, Elvis Pandzic, Sean Porazinski, J Justin Gooding, Kristopher A Kilian |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 37744 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |