Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
During anaphase, the mitotic spindle reorganizes in preparation for cytokinesis. Kinesin motor proteins and microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) bundle the interpolar microtubule plus ends and generate the central spindle, which regulates cleavage furrow initiation and the completion of cytokinesis.
Cells respond to a wide range of signals from the surrounding extracellular matrix. Research into the complex interplay between cell adhesion and the cytoskeleton, combined with advanced surface nanoengineering technologies, can shed light on the mechanisms by which cells sense the neighbouring nanoenvironment.
Mechanical forces regulate basic cellular processes, such as proliferation, differentiation and tissue organization during embryogenesis. What are the mechanisms that underlie force-induced mechanotransduction during development? And what is the role of actomyosin-mediated contractile forces in the regulation of cell and tissue structure and function?
Neurons that sense touch, sound and acceleration respond rapidly to specific mechanical signals. But what are the proteins that transduce these signals? Current studies are directed towards characterizing channel proteins as candidate transduction molecules and determining how they are mechanically gated.
Blood flow is crucial for vascular morphogenesis and physiology. Endothelial cells respond to blood flow by transducing mechanical forces into biochemical signals that regulate cellular responses. Chronic exposure to disturbed flow causes the constant activation of these cellular responses, which cause vessel dysfunction and disease.
Cells sense their physical surroundings by translating mechanical forces and deformations into biochemical signals. Defects in mechanotransduction are implicated in the development of many diseases, ranging from muscular dystrophies, cardiomyopathies and loss of hearing to cancer progression and metastasis.
Mechanical forces that are exerted on surface-adhesion receptors can be channelled along cytoskeletal filaments and concentrated at distant sites in the cytoplasm and nucleus. How do these forces act at a distance to induce mechanochemical conversion in the nucleus, and what effects can they have on the cell?
