Summary Mechanotransduction, a key determinant of tissue homeostasis and tumor progression, is driven by intercellular adhesions, cell contractility and forces generated with the microenvironment, dependent on extracellular matrix composition, organization and compliance. Caveolin-1 (Cav1) favors cell elongation in 3D cultures and promotes Rho-and force-dependent contraction, matrix alignment and microenvironment stiffening through regulation of p190RhoGAP. In turn, microenvironment remodeling by Cav1-fibroblasts forces cell elongation. Cav1-deficient mice have disorganized stromal tissue architecture. Stroma associated with human carcinomas and melanoma metastases is enriched in Cav1-expressing carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Cav1 expression in breast CAFs correlates with low survival, and Cav1 depletion in CAFs decreases CAF contractility. Consistently, fibroblast expression of Cav1, through p190RhoGAP regulation, favors directional migration and invasiveness of carcinoma cells in vitro. In vivo, stromal Cav1 remodels peri- and intratumoral microenvironments to facilitate tumor invasion, correlating with increased metastatic potency. Thus, Cav1 modulates tissue responses through force-dependent architectural regulation of the microenvironment.

Controlling contact resistance in organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) is one of the major hurdles to achieve transistor scaling and dimensional reduction. In particular in the context of ambipolar and/or light‐emitting OFETs it is a difficult challenge to obtain efficient injection of both electrons and holes from one injecting electrode such as gold since organic semiconductors have intrinsically large band gaps resulting in significant injection barrier heights for at least one type of carrier. Here, systematic control of electron and hole contact resistance in poly(9,9‐di‐n‐octylfluorene‐alt‐benzothiadiazole) ambipolar OFETs using thiol‐based self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) is demonstrated. In contrast to common believe, it is found that for a certain SAM the injection of both electrons and holes can be improved. This simultaneous enhancement of electron and hole injection cannot be explained by SAM‐induced work‐function modifications because the surface dipole induced by the SAM on the metal surface lowers the injection barrier only for one type of carrier, but increases it for the other. These investigations reveal that other key factors also affect contact resistance, including i) interfacial tunneling through the SAM, ii) SAM‐induced modifications of interface morphology, and iii) the interface electronic structure. Of particular importance for top‐gate OFET geometry is iv) the active polymer layer thickness that dominates the electrode/polymer contact resistance. Therefore, a consistent explanation of how SAM electrode modification is able to improve both electron and hole injection in ambipolar OFETs requires considering all mentioned factors.

A scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM) study of the surface potential of vacuum sublimed pentacene transistors under bias stress and its correlation with the film morphology is presented. While for thicker films there are some trapping centers inhomogeneously distributed over the film, as previously reported by other authors, by decreasing the film thickness the effect of thin intergrain regions (IGRs) becomes clear and a very good correlation between the topography and the potential data is observed. It is shown that in the thick pentacene grains the potential is homogeneous and independent of the gate bias applied with negligible charge trapping, while in the thin IGRs the potential varies with the applied gate bias, indicating that only an incomplete accumulation layer can be formed. Clear evidence for preferential charge trapping in the thin IGRs is obtained.

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Surface-assisted cyclodehydrogenation and dehydrogenative polymerization of polycyclic (hetero)aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are among the most important strategies for bottom-up assembly of new nanostructures from their molecular building blocks. Although diverse compounds have been formed in recent years using this methodology, a limited knowledge on the molecular machinery operating at the nanoscale has prevented a rational control of the reaction outcome. We show that the strength of the PAH-substrate interaction rules the competitive reaction pathways (cyclodehydrogenation versus dehydrogenative polymerization). By controlling the diffusion of N-heteroaromatic precursors, the on-surface dehydrogenation can lead to monomolecular triazafullerenes and diazahexabenzocoronenes (N-doped nanographene), to N-doped oligomeric or polymeric networks, or to carbonaceous monolayers. Governing the on-surface dehydrogenation process is a step forward toward the tailored fabrication of molecular 2D nanoarchitectures distinct from graphene and exhibiting new properties of fundamental and technological interest.