mechanotransduction.org

http://www.fasebj.org – Analysis of cellular mechanotransduc- tion, the mechanism by which cells convert mechanical signals into biochemical responses, has focused on identification of critical mechanosensitive molecules and cellular components. Stretch-activated ion chan- nels, caveolae, integrins, cadherins, growth factor re- ceptors, myosin motors, cytoskeletal filaments, nuclei, extracellular matrix, and numerous other structures and signaling molecules have all been shown to contrib- ute to the mechanotransduction response. However, little is known about how these different molecules function within the structural context of living cells, tissues, and organs to produce the orchestrated cellular behaviors required for mechanosensation, embryogen- esis, and physiological control. Recent work from a wide range of fields reveals that organ, tissue, and cell anatomy are as important for mechanotransduction as individual mechanosensitive proteins and that our bod- ies use structural hierarchies (systems within systems) composed of interconnected networks that span from the macroscale to the nanoscale in order to focus stresses on specific mechanotransducer molecules. The presence of isometric tension (prestress) at all levels of these multiscale networks ensures that various molecu- lar scale mechanochemical transduction mechanisms proceed simultaneously and produce a concerted re- sponse. Future research in this area will therefore require analysis, understanding, and modeling of ten- sionally integrated (tensegrity) systems of mechano- chemical control.—Ingber, D. E. Cellular mechano- transduction: putting all the pieces together again FASEB J. 20, 811–827 (2006) Read »