title: A question of time: tissue adaptation to mechanical forces.
abstract: While much attention has been focused on the force-generating mechanisms responsible for shaping developing embryos, less is known about the ways in which cells in animal tissues respond to mechanical stimuli. Forces will arise within a tissue as the result of processes such as local cell death, growth and division, but they can also be an indirect consequence of morphogenetic movements in neighbouring tissues or be imposed from the outside, for example, by gravity. If not dealt with, the accumulation of stress and the resulting tissue deformation can pose a threat to tissue integrity and structure. Here we follow the time-course of events by which cells and tissues return to their preferred state following a mechanical perturbation. In doing so, we discuss the spectrum of biological and physical mechanisms known to underlie mechanical homeostasis in animal tissues.
authors.affiliation: MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Centre for Mathematics, Physics and Engineering in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Institute for the Physics of Living Systems, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wyatt
authors.affiliation: MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Institute for the Physics of Living Systems, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: b.baum@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Buzz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baum
authors.affiliation: London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Institute for the Physics of Living Systems, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Charras
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D013997:Time Factors