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MRTFA-SRF driven gene expression promotes cellular stiffness by controlling cytoplasmic Ca2+ and K+ levels in cancer cells

GSE273414 Mus musculus (mouse) RNA-seq (gene expression) 18 samples Submitted 2026/01/19 Platform GPL24247

At a glance

RNA-seq (gene expression) · mouse · 18 samples

What it is: RNA-seq (gene expression)Gene activity measured by sequencing. The summary does not mention single-cell work, so this is most likely bulk: one average per sample, the usual starting point for comparing groups.
Organism: Mus musculus (mouse)
Samples: 18 samples: 6 conditions, mostly in triplicateGroups are read from the sample names, not from the paper. Check the list below.
Data you can get: A processed table (series matrix) and supplementary files from NCBI; the raw sequencing reads from ENA. Which of these hold counts depends on the study, so check the file list.
Paper: Ionic regulation of cancer cell stiffness and metastatic colonization via the MRTFA-KCNMB1 axisDevelopmental cell · 2026

Summary (written by the submitters)

Cellular stiffness, the inverse of compliance, is a biophysical property of cells that fundamentally impacts homeostatic functions and pathological states and understanding how these properties are controlled can provide novel insights into tissue homeostasis and disease mechanisms. A prominent regulator of cellular stiffness is the filamentous actin (F-actin) cytoskeleton that forms aligned stress fibers during cellular contraction.

Read the full summary ↓

It has been recently shown that F-actin polymerization and the subsequent cortical stiffening of cancer cells is regulated by the myocardin-related transcription factor A (MRTFA) and this results in dramatic changes in the ability of cancer cells to evade anti-tumor immune surveillance. However, the precise mechanism by which MRTFA regulated cortical stiffness remained unknown. Here, we demonstrate that cancer cell stiffening occurs as a consequence of MRTFA binding to its cofactor serum response factor (SRF). Specifically, MRTFA-SRF promotes the expression of Ca2+ and K+ handling genes and the flux of these ions are critically needed for cortical stiffening. Finally, we show the results of a series of rigorous gain-of-function and loss-of-function studies that reveal the large conductance K+ channel auxiliary subunit, KCNMB1, as an MRTFA-SRF target that regulates cell stiffness and F-actin organization. Collectively, these findings point to previously unrecognized MRTFA-SRF targets in cellular stiffness, including a novel druggable ion channel.

Published in

Ionic regulation of cancer cell stiffness and metastatic colonization via the MRTFA-KCNMB1 axis

Gajda AM, Haloul M, Pai V et al. · Developmental cell 2026 · PMID 42229427 · doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2026.05.001

This dataset

Open GSE273414 in finder → Find more mouse RNA-seq datasets →

Download · which file do I need?

Direct links to NCBI and ENA, no account and no request form. Pick by what you want to do: take the small processed table to look, the supplementary files to re-analyse, or the original raw data to start over.

1 · Just have a look

Processed table

The series matrix: one table of values per sample as the submitters processed it. The smallest download, and it opens in Excel or R. Start here to see what the data look like.

Series matrix ↓

2 · Re-analyse it

Supplementary files

The count tables and other files the authors uploaded. Take only the samples you need, or the whole study as GSE273414_RAW.tar (it can run to tens of gigabytes).

All supplementary files ↗ Whole study · RAW.tar ↓

3 · Start from the raw reads

Raw sequencing reads

The original FASTQ files, straight from the sequencer, held at ENA. Large, and you align them yourself, so only choose this if you need to re-process the study from scratch.

Raw reads on ENA ↗

What the files usually look like: For RNA-seq the counts are usually a table among the supplementary files (look for 'counts', 'expression', 'FPKM' or 'TPM' in the file name). The series matrix of a sequencing study is sometimes nearly empty.

Also filed as BioProject PRJNA1141570 and SRA study SRP522989. Searching any of these in the dataset finder brings you back here.

NCBI GEO page ↗ Paper (PMID 42229427) ↗

Study design

6 conditions, mostly in triplicate

AT-3_pRetroX ×3 AT-3_MRTFA ×3 AT-3_Y238A ×3 E0771_pRetroX ×3 E0771_MRTFA ×3 E0771_Y238A ×3

Supports a between-group comparison across 18 samples.

How we read this: 6 replicated groups read from 18 sample titles; they account for 18 of them. These groups are guessed from the sample names, not taken from the paper, so check them against the sample list below before relying on them.

Samples in this study

GSM8427993 AT-3_pRetroX_1 AT-3_pRetroX
GSM8427994 AT-3_MRTFA_1 AT-3_MRTFA
GSM8427995 AT-3_Y238A_1 AT-3_Y238A
GSM8427996 E0771_pRetroX_1 E0771_pRetroX
GSM8427997 E0771_MRTFA_1 E0771_MRTFA
GSM8427998 E0771_Y238A_1 E0771_Y238A
GSM8427999 AT-3_pRetroX_2 AT-3_pRetroX
GSM8428000 AT-3_MRTFA_2 AT-3_MRTFA
GSM8428001 AT-3_Y238A_2 AT-3_Y238A
GSM8428002 E0771_pRetroX_2 E0771_pRetroX
GSM8428003 E0771_MRTFA_2 E0771_MRTFA
GSM8428004 E0771_Y238A_2 E0771_Y238A
GSM8428005 AT-3_pRetroX_3 AT-3_pRetroX
GSM8428006 AT-3_MRTFA_3 AT-3_MRTFA
GSM8428007 AT-3_Y238A_3 AT-3_Y238A
GSM8428008 E0771_pRetroX_3 E0771_pRetroX
GSM8428009 E0771_MRTFA_3 E0771_MRTFA
GSM8428010 E0771_Y238A_3 E0771_Y238A

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