Beyond Genes: How the Physical Environment Influences Breast Cancer

The Biofisika Institute is investigating how cells perceive the stiffness of the tissues surrounding them and how this information can affect their behavior

When studying cancer, attention is often focused on genes and the molecules that regulate cellular activity. However, a team at the Biofisika Institute is investigating another, lesser-known but increasingly relevant factor: the ability of cells to sense the physical properties of their environment.

To mark Breast Cancer Awareness Day, the researchers aim to highlight a line of research that seeks to answer a fundamental question: What happens when cells detect that the tissue surrounding them becomes stiffer? The answer could be important for better understanding diseases such as breast cancer. Various studies have shown that tumors tend to have stiffer tissue than healthy tissue and that these physical changes can alter cellular behavior. In some cases, cells respond to these signals by adopting characteristics associated with more aggressive forms of the disease.

This phenomenon is the subject of study in mechanobiology, a discipline that analyzes how forces and physical properties influence living systems. At the Biofisika Institute, researchers are working to understand how these physical signals interact with the biochemical signals that have traditionally been at the center of biomedical research.

“For many decades, mechanical forces were not taken into account when trying to understand biology and pathology,” explains Ion Andreu, an Ikerbasque researcher at the Biofisika Institute. “However, we now see that they play a central role in everything from embryonic development to aging, as well as in pathologies such as breast cancer.”

The research is being conducted by a multidisciplinary team that also includes, among others, Maddi García Ayerbe, a predoctoral researcher, and Cristina de la Parte, a research technician. Their goal is to understand the fundamental mechanisms by which cells integrate physical and chemical information from their environment to decide how to grow, move, or respond to changes in tissues.

This research team emphasizes that their work is not aimed at developing an immediate treatment. It is basic research, focused on generating knowledge about complex biological processes that are not yet fully understood. That knowledge, they note, is what can lay the groundwork for future biomedical applications.

As emerging disciplines such as mechanobiology integrate with more established fields such as biochemistry, scientists hope to gain a more comprehensive understanding of complex diseases such as breast cancer.