Fig. 5.

Osteoprotegerin secretion is increased in activated fibroblasts and inhibits dissemination. a Quantification of cytokine array targets which were not present in or increased concentration from unconditioned media. Data normalized to unconditioned media by normalizing to array control and subtracting unconditioned media baselines. Asterisk indicates significant difference from soft gel. Student’s t-test p-value <0.05. Error bars show standard deviation. b Dissemination of cells from spheroids treated with soft hydrogel fibroblast media and additional recombinant OPG. Fewer cells disseminated from stiff stromal spheroids when OPG level was increased. Diamond markers represent spheroid dissemination when cultured within a stiff matrix with stiff matrix HFb conditioned media. c Dissemination of cells from spheroids treated with stiff hydrogel fibroblast media and an antibody to OPG. Cells disseminated from spheroids, regardless of hydrogel stiffness, when blocking OPG. Diamond markers represent spheroid dissemination when cultured within a stiff matrix with soft matrix HFb conditioned media. Asterisk indicates significant difference from conditioned media only. Student’s t-test p-value <0.05. Error bars show standard deviation of the mean