At the heart of mechanobiology is the relationship between a cell and its environment. The ability of cells to sense and respond to their immediate environment is dependent on dynamic subcellular systems capable of generating and transducing mechanical force, and integrating that force into biochemical and genomic pathways.
The cytoskeleton, in particular, acts as a load-bearing network in cells and has a major role in transducing mechanical signals throughout cells. Not only does it act as a bridge between the extracellular environment and the cell interior, but it can transduce signals in a fast and efficient manner due to the multitude of signaling molecules that bind to the cytoskeleton and are activated by mechanical stimuli. By compartmentalizing its subcellular functions, the cell is able to function efficiently, in larger multi-cellular tissue environments.
In the pages listed below we explore the fundamental cellular and molecular processes relevant to the field of Mechanobiology.
What is Mechanobiology?
Mechanobiology describes how physical factors, such as forces and mechanics, are able to influence biological systems at the molecular, cellular, and tissue level. The fundamental process which drives mechanobiology is mechanotransduction, the ability of cells to convert mechanical stimuli into biochemical signals. For example, a cell can sense and respond to the three-dimensional physical properties of its environment. These parameters include matrix density, geometry, and substrate rigidity. After sensing these mechanical stimuli, the cell can convert them into biochemical signals which enables specific cellular responses such as migration, proliferation, and differentiation.
In this topic
- What are some common themes in Mechanobiology?
- How are forces transduced in a cellular environment?
- How is energy transferred across the cellular system?
- Is mechanosensing an active process?
- What types of forces do cells encounter?
- How does the cytoskeleton transmit mechanical forces?
- How do focal adhesions facilitate mechanosensing?
- How do focal adhesions sense the physical properties of the matrix?
Cytoskeleton Dynamics
- What is the cytoskeleton?
- What are actin filaments?
- What are the functions of actin filaments?
- How does actin filament polymerization generate protrusive force?
- How are actin filaments distributed in cells and tissues?
- How do actin filaments form higher-order assemblies that produce and respond to force?
- How do actin filaments transmit force?
- How do actin filaments depolymerize?
- What is actin nucleation?
- How do actin filaments grow?
- What is the role of cortactin in actin polymerization?
- What is the role of formin in Actin Polymerization?
- What is the role of profilin in formin-nucleated actin cable assembly?
- What is the steady state phase of actin polymerization?
- What factors influence actin filament length and treadmilling
- What factors regulate actin filament polymerization?
- What is actin crosslinking?
- What is capping protein?
- What are intermediate filaments?
- What are microtubules?
- What are Contractile Fibers?
- What are higher order actin structures?
- What are blebs?
- What are filopodia?
- What is the first step in filopodium formation?
- How does cross-linking of actin filaments aid in their extension?
- How quickly can filopodia extend?
- How do filopodia attach to the surrounding substrate?
- How do filopodia pull on a substrate?
- What causes filopodia stasis?
- Why do filopodia move laterally?
- What causes filopodia retraction and collapse?
- What are lamellipodia and lamella?
- What is the role of the lamellipodia in mechanosensing and cell motility?
- What steps are involved in Lamellipodia assembly?
- How does nucleation of actin initiate lamellipodia formation?
- How do focal adhesions act as molecular clutches in lamellipodia?
- How does force generation within lamellipodia facilitate cell translocation?
- What mechanisms drive extension, pause and stasis of the lamellipodia?
- What mechanisms drive retraction of the trailing edge?
- What are invadopodia?
- What are podosomes?
- What are stress fibers?
- What is axon guidance and the growth cone?
- What are motor proteins?
- What are actin filaments?
How do membranes facilitate mechanotransduction?
- What is the plasma membrane?
- What are membrane reservoirs?
- What is membrane curvature?
- What is membrane trafficking?
- What is caveolar endocytosis?
- What is clathrin-mediated endocytosis?
- How is clathrin recruited to the plasma membrane?
- How does the clathrin coated pit form?
- Invagination and maturation of the clathrin-coated vesicle
- How does the clathrin-coated vesicle neck narrow?
- How does scission of the clathrin-coated vesicle occur?
- How are clathrin-coated vesicles uncoated?
- How are clathrin-coated vesicles transported?
- What is the CLIC/GEEC Endocytosis pathway?
- What is Arf6-associated endocytosis?
- What is Rho-dependent IL-2 receptor endocytosis?
- What is flotillin-associated endocytosis?
- What is Fast Endophilin-Mediated Endocytosis (FEME)?
- What is exocytosis?
- What is autophagy?
- What is macropinocytosis?
- What is phagocytosis?
What is mechanosignaling?
- What are cell-cell adhesions?
- How are cell-cell adhesions regulated?
- How do posttranslational modifications of cell-cell adhesions impact their stability?
- How do scaffolding proteins regulate the stability of cell-cell adhesions?
- What are immunoglobulin superfamily (Ig) CAMs
- What are selectins?
- What are anchoring junctions?
- What are tight junctions?
- What are adherens junctions?
- How are adherens junctions assembled?
- What is cadherin?
- How is cadherin recruited to the adherens junction?
- How is the cytoskeleton linked to adherens junctions?
- What are some alternative mechanisms in the regulation of adherens junctions?
- What is the ‘Fork Initiation and Zipper’ model?
- What is the role of adaptor proteins in the stabilization and function of core AJ components?
- What is the role of cadherin and nectin recruitment in adherens junction assembly?
- What is the role of plaque proteins in adherens junction assembly?
- What is the role of the cytoskeleton in the regulation of cell-cell adhesions?
- What are cell-matrix adhesions?
- What are cell-matrix receptors?
- What are focal adhesions?
- Are focal adhesion dynamic?
- How are focal adhesion dynamics regulated?
- How are proteins recruited to focal adhesion sites?
- How do focal adhesions disassemble?
- How do focal adhesions mature?
- What are mature focal adhesions composed of?
- What is the first step in focal adhesion assembly?
- What is the role of integrin clustering in focal adhesion assembly?
- What is the role of Rho GTPases in the regulation of focal adhesion assembly?
- What processes drive focal adhesion growth?
- What steps are involved in the formation of focal adhesions?
- What is integrin?
- How do small GTPases regulate mechanosignaling pathways?
- Which biochemical pathways are regulated by mechanical signals?
- What are guidance cues?
