Mechanobiology

Mechanobiology is the study of how mechanical forces and properties influence biological systems, from molecules to whole organisms. It integrates biology, physics, and engineering to understand how cells sense and respond to their physical environment.

Cells experience cues such as extracellular matrix stiffness, fluid shear, tensile stretch, and compressive pressure. They sense these cues through mechanosensors including integrins, ion channels, and components of the cytoskeleton, translating mechanical inputs into biochemical signals that regulate gene expression and behavior.

Key signaling pathways include focal adhesions with FAK and Src, RhoA/ROCK–driven cytoskeletal remodeling, and the YAP/TAZ transcriptional regulators, which respond to matrix rigidity. Mechanosensitive ion channels such as PIEZO1/PIEZO2 also contribute by altering calcium signaling in response to force.

Researchers use methods like traction force microscopy to map cellular forces, atomic force microscopy to probe stiffness, optical and magnetic tweezers to apply forces, microfluidic devices, and engineered substrates with tunable stiffness to study mechanotransduction.

Applications span tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, cancer biology, stem cell differentiation, vascular biology, wound healing, and neuroscience. Understanding mechanobiology helps explain development, disease progression, and responses to therapies, while informing design of biomaterials and medical devices.

The field has roots in foundational observations of load-driven tissue adaptation and has grown with advances in imaging, nanotechnology, and quantitative mechanics. Ongoing challenges include integrating signals across scales and reconciling in vitro models with complex in vivo environments.