Bone-matrix mineralization dampens integrin-mediated mechanosignalling and metastatic progression in breast cancer.

In patients with breast cancer, lower bone mineral density increases the risk of bone metastasis. Although the relationship between bone-matrix mineralization and tumour-cell phenotype in breast cancer is not well understood, mineralization-induced rigidity is thought to drive metastatic progression via increased cell-adhesion forces. Here, by using collagen-based matrices with adjustable intrafibrillar mineralization, we show that, unexpectedly, matrix mineralization dampens integrin-mediated mechanosignalling and induces a less proliferative stem-cell-like phenotype in breast cancer cells.

A combined compression molding, heating, and leaching process for fabrication of micro-porous poly(ε-caprolactone) scaffolds.

Biomaterial scaffolds have been increasingly used for tissue engineering applications as well as three dimensional (3D) cell culture models. Herein, we report a simple procedure combining compression molding, heating, and leaching methods for the fabrication of 3D micro-porous poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) biomaterial scaffolds. In this procedure, PCL micro particles are mixed with NaCl of defined sizes and compression molded, followed by heating and subsequent leaching of NaCl particles.