Matrix stiffness modulates proliferation, chemotherapeutic response, and dormancy in hepatocellular carcinoma cells

UNLABELLED: There is increasing evidence that the physical environment is a critical mediator of tumor behavior. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) develops within an altered biomechanical environment, and increasing matrix stiffness is a strong predictor of HCC development. The aim of this study was to establish whether changes in matrix stiffness, which are characteristic of inflammation and fibrosis, regulate HCC cell proliferation and chemotherapeutic response. Using an in vitro system of "mechanically tunable" matrix-coated polyacrylamide gels, matrix stiffness was modeled across a pathophysiologically relevant range, corresponding to values encountered in normal and fibrotic livers. Increasing matrix…

• DF
  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
• EA
  European Association for the Study of the Liver
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• MR
  Medical Research Council