Authors
Sabrina Stecher, Joachim Schenk, Alessandro Cianciosi, Katherina Hemmen, David Böhringer, Franziska Dusi, Jessica Faber, Philipp Stahlhut, Benedikt Gantert, Emilie Rouenhoff, Annika Gmöhling, Tessa Lühmann, Jörg Teßmar, Jürgen Groll, Silvia Budday, Tomasz Jüngst, Ben Fabry, Katrin G Heinze, Petra Bauer-Kreisel, Torsten Blunk
Published in
Advanced healthcare materials. Pages e71353. Jul 26, 2026. Epub Jul 26, 2026.
Abstract
In breast cancer, local invasion of cancer cells into surrounding tissue marks the first step of metastasis. However, to elucidate the impact of cells from the tumor microenvironment on this process, advanced 3D migration models are still urgently needed. To enable migration and invasion studies in a fully 3D bioprinted tumor-stroma model, a migration-permissive bioink composed of methacrylated collagen type I and thiolated hyaluronic acid with low polymer content is developed. In a printed co-culture model comprising metastatic breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) and adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs), real-time single-cell tracking reveals that ASCs in the stromal compartment profoundly promote migration and invasion dynamics of individual tumor cells. This is reflected by increased speed, migration distance, and invasion into the stroma, and is accompanied by collagen remodeling and a shift in tumor cell morphology. A correlation between tumor cell morphology and migration speed is evident, which is modulated by ASCs. A highly motile and invasive subset of tumor cells is significantly enhanced in the presence of ASCs. These insights into the influence of ASCs on the heterogeneity of breast cancer cells in terms of their migratory behavior may inform the development of more specific and effective treatment options for metastatic breast cancer.
PMID:
42503303
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 27 Jul 2026.
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