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It’s the type IV collagen in the basement membrane of my cochlea, or inner ear, that is abnormal and contributes to sensorineural hearing loss.

These mutant stem cells lie above a layer of extracellular matrix material called the basement membrane. b, The tumours in embryos with a SmoM2 mutation resembled a benign, non-invasive cancer called basal cell carcinoma.

These mutant cells actively produced and remodelled the basement membrane, rendering it elastic.

The cancer cells generated forces as a result of cellular overcrowding, which buckled the basement membrane, creating a bud-shaped tumour, and produced tension at the boundary with the non-mutant cells. c, The tumours in embryos with an HRas mutation resembled a malignant, invasive cancer termed squamous cell carcinoma.

The authors suggest that these forces might rupture the basement membrane, enabling invasion of the underlying tissue.