Figure 5.

Stiffness‐mediated EMT occurs in cancer cells. ECM stiffness can independently act as a force cue or synergistically stimulate EMT in cancer cells with costimulators, including biochemical (such as TGFβ family, LOX family, MMP3) and physical factors (ECM topography, adhesion ligands concentration, hypoxia, etc.). In soft matrix cases, the loss of E‐cadherin in cancer cells impairs the balance between cell–cell adhesions and integrins‐mediated cell‐ECM adhesion, resulting in the occurrence of metastasis and invasion. The thin dotted line means that the effect is minor.