title: Mechanotransduction's impact on animal development, evolution, and tumorigenesis.
abstract: Mechanotransduction translates mechanical signals into biochemical signals. It is based on the soft-matter properties of biomolecules or membranes that deform in response to mechanical loads to trigger activation of biochemical reactions. The study of mechanotransductive processes in cell-structure organization has been initiated in vitro in many biological contexts, such as examining cells' response to substrate rigidity increases associated with tumor fibrosis and to blood flow pressure. In vivo, the study of mechanotransduction in regulating physiological processes has focused primarily on the context of embryogenesis, with an increasing number of examples demonstrating its importance for both differentiation and morphogenesis. The conservation across species of mechanical induction in early embryonic patterning now suggests that major animal transitions, such as mesoderm emergence, may have been based on mechanotransduction pathways. In adult animal tissues, permanent stiffness and tissue growth pressure contribute to tumorigenesis and appear to reactivate such conserved embryonic mechanosensitive pathways.
authors.affiliation: Mechanics and Genetics of Embryonic and Tumor Development Team, CNRS UMR 168 Physicochimie Curie, Institut Curie Centre de Recherche, PSL Research University; Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes; and INSERM, F-75005 Paris, France; email: efarge@curie.fr.
authors.forename: Maria-Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Sanchez
authors.forename: Thibaut
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brunet
authors.affiliation: Mechanics and Genetics of Embryonic and Tumor Development Team, CNRS UMR 168 Physicochimie Curie, Institut Curie Centre de Recherche, PSL Research University; Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes; and INSERM, F-75005 Paris, France; email: efarge@curie.fr.
authors.forename: Jens-Christian
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Röper
authors.affiliation: Mechanics and Genetics of Embryonic and Tumor Development Team, CNRS UMR 168 Physicochimie Curie, Institut Curie Centre de Recherche, PSL Research University; Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes; and INSERM, F-75005 Paris, France; email: efarge@curie.fr.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Farge
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D063646:Carcinogenesis / Q000473:pathology*; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: conformation modulation; endocytosis; evo-devo; mechanical pressure; mechanical stiffness; mesoderm emergence; morphogenesis