{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T18:25:02Z","timestamp":1791224702362,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)","issue":"31","funder":[{"name":"National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant","award":["GNT1196648"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GNT1196648"]}]},{"name":"National Health and Medical Research Council Ideas Grants","award":["GNT2021307"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GNT2021307"]}]},{"name":"National Health and Medical Research Council Ideas Grants","award":["GNT1183588"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GNT1183588"]}]},{"name":"National Health and Medical Research Council Synergy Grant","award":["GNT2019056"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GNT2019056"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.science.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Sci. Adv."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) play a pivotal role in antitumor immunity via inducing apoptosis in cancer cells. However, their effector functions can be compromised by the perturbations in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Among the diverse factors within the TME, the effects of stiffness of the extracellular matrix (ECM) on CTL-mediated responses require greater understanding. To address this gap, we three-dimensionally bioprinted CTLs and targeted cells in polyethylene glycol\u2013based ECM mimics with tunable stiffness and uniform porosity. Our findings reveal that CTLs in stiffer ECMs showed reduced migration speed and impaired antigen-specific cytotoxicity. Synapse formation analysis revealed that stiffer ECMs impair CTL efficacy not by reducing the frequency of CTL-target cell contacts but by shortening the contact time between these cells, a consequence of disrupted immunological synapse formation. Live Ca\n                    <jats:sup>2+<\/jats:sup>\n                    imaging and expression of phospho-ZAP70 confirmed these findings. Together, these results suggest that ECM stiffness modulates CTL function at multiple levels, from migration to cytotoxicity and synapse quality.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.ady2299","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]],"date-time":"2026-07-31T17:58:34Z","timestamp":1785520714000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.34133\/aaas_crossmark","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Stiff matrix impairs cytotoxic T lymphocyte function at multiple levels"],"prefix":"10.1126","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4984-5410","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Mir Hadi","family":"Seyedzadeh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, Australia."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5046-698X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"M. 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