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Recent progress in the study of cellular mechanotransduction — the conversion of mechanical forces into biochemical signals — has increased our understanding of mechanobiology by providing novel insights into how mechanical inputs regulate cell behaviour and tissue homeostasis and how their deregulation might cause disease. This Focus issue includes Review articles and comments that discuss how mechanical forces are transduced into the cell, including into the nucleus, to control gene expression and to regulate morphogenesis, tissue regeneration and tumorigenesis. Also discussed is the therapeutic potential of modulating mechanotransduction with the use of synthetic matrices.
Studies of mechanobiology lie at the interface of various scientific disciplines from biology to physics. Ulrich Schwarz discusses the importance of technological advances, quantification and modelling for the progress in understanding the role of forces in biology.
Christopher Chen highlights the early studies of mechanoregulation of cell–matrix adhesions that established mechanobiology as a cross-discplinary research field
Applying force to the nucleus reduces the diffusion barrier at nuclear pores and promotes nuclear import of certain proteins, including the transcription regulator YAP, depending on their molecular properties.