1. Higher adhesive force between breast cancer cells and MSCs, as compared with HSPCs, assessed by quantitative atomic force microscopy-based single-cell force spectroscopy could partially account for tumor cell mediated reduction in HSPC adhesion to MSCs.

2.. The K8-null mouse models also provide novel epithelial-derived robust colon-specific CRC models.

3. Therefore, targeting this cross talk may represent a novel therapeutic strategy.

4. To this end, we established two models of competitive cell adhesion—simultaneous and sequential—to study a potential competition for homing to the niche and displacement of the endogenous HSPCs upon invasion by tumor cells.