Biomechanical Regulation of Breast Cancer Migration

The transition of the mammary epithelium to a metastatic state is an important event that drastically increases mortality during breast cancer progression. Metastatic progression depends on the ability of tumor cells to migrate to nearby blood vessels and lymphatics before they can successfully metastasize and colonize into other tissues. An understanding of how biomechanical and biochemical signals influence directional migration to these sites of tissue escape could help develop therapies to slow or halt metastasis. To understand how the mechanical properties of the tumor microenvironment may affect metastasis, we study cell motility of mammary epithelia cells migrating on substrates with gradients of stiffness and with different matrix conjugation.