Mechanotransduction at a distance: mechanically coupling the extracellular matrix with the nucleus.
Research in cellular mechanotransduction often focuses on how extracellular physical forces are converted into chemical signals at the cell surface. However, mechanical forces that are exerted on surface-adhesion receptors, such as integrins and cadherins, are also channelled along cytoskeletal filaments and concentrated at distant sites in the cytoplasm and nucleus. Here, we explore the molecular mechanisms by which forces might act at a distance to induce mechanochemical conversion in the nucleus and alter gene activities.
Wang
Ning
N
Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Tytell
Jessica D
JD
Ingber
Donald E
DE
D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000502:physiology; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical