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. 2012 Feb 28;7(2):e32572. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032572

Figure 3. Increased collagen density contributes to increased force generation.

Figure 3

Net traction force (|F|) increases with collagen density (0.0001–0.1 mg/mL collagen I) for (A) MCF10A non-metastatic mammary epithelial cells and MDAMB231 metastatic cancer cells, (B) PrEC non-metastatic primary prostate epithelial cells and PC3 metastatic prostate cancer cells, and (C) BEAS2B non-metastatic bronchial epithelial cells and A549 metastatic lung cancer cells. Stiffness is maintained at E = 5 kPa. 0.1 mg/mL collagen I data is from Figure 1. Note also that the metastatic cancer cells (black) exert greater forces than non-metastatic cells (white) at all collagen densities studied. Mean+SEM; * indicates p<0.05; ** indicates p<0.01; *** indicates p<0.001.