As ECM stiffness generally regulates tumor progression through its receptors [16], we systematically screened several common ECM-sensing receptors (ITGB1, CD44, Piezo1, Piezo2, YAP1, Syndecan1, and DDR1) via siRNA knockdown, and confirmed the knockdown efficiency by conducting qRT-PCR analyses (Supplementary Fig. 3E). This evidence concerns the gene CD44 and neoplasm.