Fig. 7. Collagen XII overexpression increases tumour stiffness and cancer cell invasion.

a Bulk modulus (stiffness) of organotypic matrices at day 12 remodelled by control (eGFP-VPR) or collagen XII overexpressing (ColXII-VPR₁, ColXII-VPR₂) CAFs as measured by unconfined compression analysis. Mean ± SD, n = 5 biologically independent experiments, *p = 0.032, **p = 0.0075, Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparison test. b Quantification of the red birefringence signal area for picrosirius-red-stained organotypic matrices generated by control (eGFP-VPR) or collagen XII overexpressing (ColXII-VPR₁, ColXII-VPR₂) CAFs. Mean ± SD, n = 3 biologically independent experiments, *p = 0.034, **p = 0.0078, one-way ANOVA with a Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test. c Representative histological images (H&E) (from n = 3 biologically independent experiments) of cancer cell invasion into organotypic matrices remodelled by control (eGFP-VPR) or collagen XII overexpressing (ColXII-VPR₁, ColXII-VPR₂) CAFs (scale bar = 100 µm). d Quantification of cancer cell invasive index into organotypic matrices remodelled by control (eGFP-VPR) or collagen XII overexpressing (ColXII-VPR₁, ColXII-VPR₂) CAFs. Mean ± SD, n = 3 biologically independent experiments, *p < 0.05, eGFP-VPR vs ColXII-VPR₁ p = 0.032; eGFP-VPR vs ColXII-VPR₂ p = 0.028; One-way ANOVA with a Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test. Source data are provided in the Source data file.