Abstract
Mechanoreciprocity refers to a cell’s ability to maintain tensional homeostasis in response to various types of forces. Physical forces are continually being exerted upon cells of various tissue types, even those considered static, such as the brain. Through mechanoreceptors, cells sense and subsequently respond to these stimuli. These forces and their respective cellular responses are prevalent in regulating everything from embryogenic tissue-specific differentiation, programmed cell death, and disease progression, the last of which being the subject of extensive attention. Abnormal mechanical remodeling of cells can provide clues as to the pathological status of tissues. This becomes particularly important in cancer cells, where cellular stiffness has been recently accepted as a novel biomarker for cancer metastasis. Several studies have also elucidated the importance of cell stiffness in cancer metastasis, with data highlighting that a reversal of tumor stiffness has the capacity to revert the metastatic properties of cancer. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of extracellular matrix (ECM) homeostasis, which plays a prominent role in tissue mechanics. We also describe pathological disruption of the ECM, and the subsequent implications toward cancer and cancer metastasis. In addition, we highlight the most novel approaches toward understanding the mechanisms which generate pathogenic cell stiffness and provide potential new strategies which have the capacity to advance our understanding of one of human-kinds’ most clinically significant medical pathologies. These new strategies include video-based techniques for structural dynamics, which have shown great potential for identifying full-field, high-resolution modal properties, in this case, as a novel application.
Highlights
Cancer is defined as a set of diseases in which cells bypass the mechanisms that normally limit their growth and replication capacity (Hanahan and Weinberg, 2000; Brower, 2007)
Metastasis, or the spreading of a secondary cancer via the translocation of cancer cells to different parts of the body, is the cause of over 90% of human cancer deaths (Weigelt et al, 2005; Brower, 2007). This stark percentage highlights the importance of understanding the metastatic processes in cancer and the need to explore and elucidate more effective treatment options
It is clear that the extracellular matrix (ECM) balances forces that maintain tissue homeostasis
Summary
Cancer is defined as a set of diseases in which cells bypass the mechanisms that normally limit their growth and replication capacity (Hanahan and Weinberg, 2000; Brower, 2007) This uncontrolled growth is characterized by overexpression of oncogenes, coupled with the loss of tumor suppressor genes (Hanahan and Weinberg, 2000). Metastasis, or the spreading of a secondary cancer via the translocation of cancer cells to different parts of the body, is the cause of over 90% of human cancer deaths (Weigelt et al, 2005; Brower, 2007) This stark percentage highlights the importance of understanding the metastatic processes in cancer and the need to explore and elucidate more effective treatment options. Several environmental factors have been shown to increase the risk of cancer development (Evanthia et al, 2012; Di Ciaula et al, 2017), it is well known that the human genome plays a crucial role (Thean et al, 2017; Wilson et al, 2017; Gooskens et al, 2018) suggesting that future studies most employ a holistic approach in both the undertaking and subsequent interpretation
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