Themed collection Mechanobiology

Guest editors G. V. Shivashankar, Michael Sheetz and Paul Matsudaira introduce the Mechanobiology themed issue of Integrative Biology.

We review recent computational approaches and supporting experimental work in mechanobiology across multiple scales, from molecules to multicellular systems.

Combining live cell imaging, particle image velocimetry and numerical simulations, we show the role of extracellular matrix and intercellular adhesion on the expansion of epithelial cells.

Cellular mechanical signals via the actin cytoskeleton regulate DNA packing by altering the dynamics of nuclear structure proteins.

Micropatterning of T cell ligands reveals their specific contributions to actin assembly and the generation of cytoskeletal forces in immunesynapse formation.

We used super-resolution microscopy to visualize the bacterial transcriptional regulator OmpR, the bacterial membrane and the chromosome.

Molecular forces via single integrins at the cell-substrate interface control the degree of cell spreading.

Mechanisms of the interplay among filamin, integrin and talin during early focal adhesion formation were explored using molecular dynamics simulations.

We use a two-dimensional cellular Potts model to represent the behavior of an epithelial cell layer and describe its dynamics in response to a microscopic wound.

Curvature-controlled cellular forces at the edge of an expanding monolayer are sufficient for the initiation and growth of finger-like instability.

During obesity development, preadipocytes proliferate and differentiate into new mature adipocytes, to increase the storage capacity of triglycerides.

Combinatorial simulations are able to relate alignment and elongation of neuron-like cells on gratings.

Neutrophil-like cells, confined between two non-fibronectin-coated gels, form blebs and generate expansive forces against opposing surfaces during amoeboid cell “chimneying”.

An experimental technique that images fibers of an extracellular matrix to quantify cell-induced deformations and microstructural changes in three dimensions.

Correlative imaging in single-cells of both live migration and post-fixation talin-labeling revealed non-monotonic correspondences between cellular properties and talin expression-levels.

Human tumors are stiff and data suggest that the extracellular matrix stiffening is consistent with experimental mammary tumor models in which stiffness drives tumor invasion and metastasis.

Bacterial cell clusters disassemble after having depleted oxygen because the interaction force between their surface appendages is reduced.

A theoretical framework for understanding equilibrium mechanical stretching of single proteins.

Motility and polarity of T cells are mediated in large measure by differential adhesion through the long, flexible microtubule-based appendages.

Fate choices of stem cells are regulated in response to a complex array of biochemical and physical signals from their microenvironmental niche.

Using cellular contractile force as the target, we report a new high-throughput screening technology.

α-Catenin, the core mechanosensor of adherens junctions, allows cells to sense, transduce mechanical constrain in biochemical signals by force-dependent conformational changes regulating protein interactions.