| Autor: |
Ayad NME; Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration, Department of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.; UC Berkeley-UCSF Graduate Program in Bioengineering, San Francisco, CA, USA., Kaushik S; Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration, Department of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA., Weaver VM; Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration, Department of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.; Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.; UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.; Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.; Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. |
| Abstrakt: |
A growing body of work describes how physical forces in and around cells affect their growth, proliferation, migration, function and differentiation into specialized types. How cells receive and respond biochemically to mechanical signals is a process termed mechanotransduction. Disease may arise if a disruption occurs within this mechanism of sensing and interpreting mechanics. Cancer, cardiovascular diseases and developmental defects, such as during the process of neural tube formation, are linked to changes in cell and tissue mechanics. A breakdown in normal tissue and cellular forces activates mechanosignalling pathways that affect their function and can promote disease progression. The recent advent of high-resolution techniques enables quantitative measurements of mechanical properties of the cell and its extracellular matrix, providing insight into how mechanotransduction is regulated. In this review, we will address the standard methods and new technologies available to properly measure mechanical properties, highlighting the challenges and limitations of probing different length-scales. We will focus on the unique environment present throughout the development and maintenance of the central nervous system and discuss cases where disease, such as brain cancer, arises in response to changes in the mechanical properties of the microenvironment that disrupt homeostasis. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Forces in cancer: interdisciplinary approaches in tumour mechanobiology'. |
