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In this study, we investigated the effects of ECM stiffness on various aspects of human trophoblast cell behaviors during cell\u2013ECM interactions. The mechanical microenvironment of the uterus was simulated by fabricating polyacrylamide (PA) hydrogels with different levels of stiffness. The human choriocarcinoma (JAR) cell lineage was used as the trophoblast model. We found that the spreading area of JAR cells, the formation of focal adhesions, and the polymerization of the F-actin cytoskeleton were all facilitated with increased ECM stiffness. Significantly, JAR cells also exhibited durotactic behavior on ECM with a gradient stiffness. Meanwhile, stiffness of the ECM affects the invasion of multicellular JAR spheroids. These results demonstrated that human trophoblast cells are mechanically sensitive, while the mechanical properties of the uterine microenvironment could play an important role in the implantation process.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bioengineering10030384","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,21]],"date-time":"2023-03-21T06:56:48Z","timestamp":1679381808000},"page":"384","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Stiff Extracellular Matrix Promotes Invasive Behaviors of Trophoblast Cells"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Jialing","family":"Cao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Nanotechnology for Single Cell Analysis, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China"},{"name":"Sino-French Engineer School, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hangyu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China"},{"name":"School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongyan","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Nanotechnology for Single Cell Analysis, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xuenan","family":"Gu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Nanotechnology for Single Cell Analysis, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4433-3662","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dongshi","family":"Guan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics, Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China"},{"name":"School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1142-0433","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jing","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Nanotechnology for Single Cell Analysis, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yubo","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Nanotechnology for Single Cell Analysis, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1400","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMra000763","article-title":"Implantation and the Survival of Early Pregnancy","volume":"345","author":"Norwitz","year":"2001","journal-title":"N. 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