Cancer is a multifactorial disease that is responsible for 10 million deaths per year. The intra-
and inter-heterogeneity of malignant tumors make it difficult to develop single targeted …

Physical stimuli are essential for the function of eukaryotic cells, and changes in physical
signals are important elements in normal tissue development as well as in disease initiation …

Cell migration is an adaptive process that depends on and responds to physical and
molecular triggers. Moving cells sense and respond to tissue mechanics and induce …

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a highly dynamic system that constantly offers physical,
biological, and chemical signals to embraced cells. Increasing evidence suggests that …

Hydrogels are highly water-swollen molecular networks that are ideal platforms to create
tissue mimetics owing to their vast and tunable properties. As such, hydrogels are promising …

Cells alter their mechanical properties in response to their local microenvironment; this plays
a role in determining cell function and can even influence stem cell fate. Here, we identify a …

Although the biological functions of cell and tissue can be regulated by biochemical factors
(eg, growth factors, hormones), the biophysical effects of materials on the regulation of …

Cell adhesion is essential in cell communication and regulation, and is of fundamental
importance in the development and maintenance of tissues. The mechanical interactions …

Embryogenesis, tissue repair and cancer metastasis rely on collective cell migration. In vitro
studies propose that cells are stiffer while migrating in stiff substrates, but softer when plated …

The spatial presentation of mechanical information is a key parameter for cell behavior. We
have developed a method of polymerization control in which the differential diffusion …