The micro-environment of cancer cells in the body is mechanically stiffer than that of normal cells. We cultured three breast cell lines of MCF10A-normal, MCF7-noninvasive, and MDA-MB-231-invasive on PDMS substrates with different elastic moduli and different cellular features were examined.Effects of substrate stiffness on cell behavior were evident among all cell lines. Cancerous cells were more sensitive to substrate stiffness for cell behaviors related to cell motility and migration which are necessary for invasion. The invasive cancerous cells were the most motile on substrates with moderate stiffness followed by non-invasive cancerous cells. Gene markers alterations were generally according to the analyzed cell movement parameters. Results suggest that alterations in matrix stiffness may be related to cancer disease and progression.

中文翻译：

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基底弹性模量诱导具有不同侵袭潜力的正常和癌性上皮细胞系的行为重塑。

体内癌细胞的微环境在机械上比正常细胞更僵硬。我们在具有不同弹性模量和不同细胞特征的 PDMS 基底上培养了 MCF10A-正常、MCF7-非侵入性和 MDA-MB-231-侵入性三种乳腺细胞系，并进行了检查。所有细胞系中基底硬度对细胞行为的影响都很明显。癌细胞对与细胞运动和迁移相关的细胞行为的基底硬度更敏感，这是侵袭所必需的。侵袭性癌细胞在中等硬度的基底上最能活动，其次是非侵袭性癌细胞。基因标记的改变通常是根据分析的细胞运动参数进行的。结果表明，基质硬度的变化可能与癌症疾病和进展有关。