Publication date: 25th July 2016
Abstract: Cells sense and respond not only to biochemical but also to physical factors, which can have a profound effect on cell fate, from differentiation to apoptosis. As cells pull on their environments, mechanotransduction processes allow them to recognize material properties of synthetic materials as well as of extracellular matrix. While much is known regarding mechanotransduction processes at the cell periphery and how cell contractility regulates the shapes of cells and of their nuclei, far less information is available how stretching of extracellular fibers as well as force-driven deformations of the nuclear lamina regulate mechanotransduction processes. Tensile forces can switch the display of protein binding sites along extracellular matrix fibers and in the cytoplasma either on- or off, thereby steering cell signaling responses. To quantify mechanotransduction processes, from 2D cell cultures all the way to living tissues, novel nanoscale probes are thus urgently required to assess forces and molecular strains.