High type I collagen density fails to increase breast cancer stem cell phenotype

Abstract

Breast cancer is a highly frequent and lethal malignancy which metastasis and relapse frequently associates with the existence of breast cancer stem cells (CSCs). CSCs are undifferentiated, aggressive and highly resistant to therapy, with traits modulated by microenvironmental cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM), a biologically complex and dynamic structure composed mainly by type I collagen (Col-I). Col-I enrichment in the tumor-associated ECM leads to microenvironment stiffness and higher tumor aggressiveness and metastatic potential. While Col-I is also known to induce tumor stemness, it is unknown if such effect is dependent of Col-I density. To answer this question, we evaluated the stemness phenotype of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 human breast cancer cells cultured within gels of varying Col-I densities. High Col-I density increased CD44+CD24− breast cancer stem cell (BCSC) immunophenotype but failed to potentiate Col-I fiber alignment, cell self-renewal and clonogenicity in MDA-MB-231 cells. In MCF-7 cells, high Col-I density decreased total levels of variant CD44 (CD44v). Common to both cell types, high Col-I density induced neither markers related to CSC nor those related with mechanically-induced cell response. We conclude that high Col-I density per se is not sufficient to fully develop the BCSC phenotype.

Tensile force field plays a crucial role in local invasion of tumor cells through a mechano-chemical coupling mechanism

“…Approximately 20 mm thick Z-stacks were obtained by collecting 12 optical sections, which were then maximumly projected to one image for structural analysis using CurveAlign software and ImageJ. 26,27 The CT-FIRE module of CurveAlign software was utilized to evaluate individual collagen fiber properties, such as length, width, and straightness. Furthermore, we analyzed the alignment of the entire collagen gel structure using the CFR mode without boundaries.…”