Tunable Mesoscopic Collagen Island Architectures Modulate Stem Cell Behavior.

The extracellular matrix is the biophysical environment that scaffolds mammalian cells in the body. The main constituent is collagen. In physiological tissues, collagen network topology is diverse with complex mesoscopic features.

Cytoskeletal dynamics regulates stromal invasion behavior of distinct liver cancer subtypes.

Drug treatment against liver cancer has limited efficacy due to heterogeneous response among liver cancer subtypes. In addition, the functional biophysical phenotypes which arise from this heterogeneity and contribute to aggressive invasive behavior remain poorly understood. This study interrogated how heterogeneity in liver cancer subtypes contributes to differences in invasive phenotypes and drug response.