NIH R01 · 2025
Mechanical properties of adipose tissue and its effect on breast cancer
PROJECT SUMMARY We recently discovered an unexpected and intriguing role for white adipose tissue (WAT) in breast cancer. Our past studies identified that the mechanical properties of WAT extracellular matrix (ECM) regulate tumor cell invasion, a key rate-limiting step of metastasis, and that these properties are altered in obesity, contributing to the increased prevalence and worse prognosis of breast cancer in obese patients. Now, recent preliminary data from our labs additionally suggest that adipocyte mechanical properties may be similarly important. However, how adipocyte mechanics change with obesity and which effect these changes have on ECM remodeling and tumor invasion remains…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.