FREDERICK H. SILVER^1,2,*, TANMAY DESHMUKH²

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.4, pp. 525-540, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2024.047965

Abstract All tissues in the body are subjected externally to gravity and internally by collagen fibril and cellular retractive forces that create stress and energy equilibrium required for homeostasis. Mechanotransduction involves mechanical work (force through a distance) and energy storage as kinetic and potential energy. This leads to changes in cell mitosis or apoptosis and the synthesis or loss of tissue components. It involves the application of energy directly to cells through integrin-mediated processes, cell-cell connections, stretching of the cell cytoplasm, and activation of the cell nucleus via yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-motif (TAZ). These processes involve numerous… More >

AAYUSHI RANDHAWA^1,2, SAYAN DEB DUTTA¹, KEYA GANGULY¹, TEJAL V. PATIL^1,2, RACHMI LUTHFIKASARI¹, KI-TAEK LIM^1,2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.4, pp. 789-808, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.026217

Abstract Tissues are made up of cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) which surrounds them. These cells and tissues are actively adaptable to enduring significant stress that occurs in daily life. This astonishing mechanical stress develops due to the interaction between the live cells and the non-living ECM. Cells in the matrix microenvironment can sense the signals and forces produced and initiate a signaling cascade that plays a crucial role in the body’s normal functioning and influences various properties of the native cells, including growth, proliferation, and differentiation. However, the matrix’s characteristic features also impact the repair and regeneration of the… More >

GIORDANO WOSGRAU CALLONI^1,*, MARCO AUGUSTO STIMAMIGLIO^2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.6, pp. 1375-1381, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.019681

Abstract Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their byproducts have been widely validated as potential therapeutic products for regenerative medicine. The therapeutic effects result mainly from the paracrine activity of MSCs, which consists of the secretion of bioactive molecules, whether dispersed in medium conditioned by cell culture or encapsulated in extracellular vesicles. The composition of the MSC secretome, which represents the set of these secreted cellular products, is crucial for the performance of the desired therapeutic functions. Different cell culture strategies have been employed to adjust the secretome composition of MSCs to obtain the best therapeutic responses for different clinical contexts. However,… More >

FREDERICK H. SILVER

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.2, pp. 297-299, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.017406

Abstract Gravity plays a central role in vertebrate development and evolution. Mechanotransduction involves the tensile tethering of veins and arteries, connections between the epidermis and dermis in skin, tensile stress concentrations that occur at tissue interfaces, cell-cell interactions, cell-collagen fiber stress transfer in extracellular matrix and fluid shear flow. While attention in the past has been directed at understanding the myriad of biochemical players associated with mechanotransduction pathways, less attention has been focused on determining the tensile mechanical behavior of tissues in vivo. Fibroblasts sit on the surface of collagen fibers in living skin and exert a retractile force on the… More >

HAORAN SU¹, KEXIN LI¹, XIAO LIU^1,*, JING DU¹, LI WANG⁴, XIAOYAN DENG^3,*, YUBO FAN^1,2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 797-811, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.014900

Abstract Endothelial cells arranged on the vessel lumen are constantly stimulated by blood flow, blood pressure and pressureinduced cyclic stretch. These stimuli are sensed through mechanical sensory structures and converted into a series of functional responses through mechanotransduction pathways. The process will eventually affect vascular health. Therefore, there has been an urgent need to establish in vitro endothelial biomechanics and mechanobiology of models, which reproduce three-dimensional structure vascular system. In recent years, the rapid development in microfluidic technology makes it possible to replicate the key structural and functionally biomechanical characteristics of vessels. Here, we summarized the progress of microfluidic chips used… More >

Qiuping Liu¹, Guanbin Song^1,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 127-127, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07105

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent and lethal malignancies worldwide. Increased matrix stiffness of extracellular matrix (ECM) is commonly associated with HCC. During tumour formation and expansion, increasing glucose metabolism is necessary for unrestricted growth of tumour cells. Yet, the correlation between matrix stiffness and glucose metabolism in the development of HCC remains unknown. In this study, we aim to investigate the effect of matrix stiffness on glucose metabolism and migration of MHCC97L and HepG2 hepatoma cells, and explore the mechanotransduction involved in this process. Polyacrylamide hydrogels with stiffness gradients of 6, 25, 54 kPa were produced… More >

Xiao Lu^1,*, Ghassan Kassab¹

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 84-86, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07089

Abstract This article has no abstract. More >

Takeo Matsumoto^1,*, Chizuru Hirooka¹, Yong Fan¹, Junfeng Wang¹, Naoki Mori¹, Eijiro Maeda¹

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 81-81, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07102

Abstract Aortic wall thickens in response to hypertension. Many studies reported that the wall thickening occurs to maintain the wall stress in the circumferential direction at a constant level. In case of the longitudinal direction, however, there are few studies suggesting the constancy of the stress. Such anisotropic response may be attributable to the circumferential alignment of the smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in the wall [1]. However, to the authors’ knowledge, there are no study discussing the underlying mechanism of the anisotropic response. It has been reported that mechanical deformation of the nuclei causes transcription upregulation [2]. This might suggest that… More >

Lili Dong¹, Yang Song^1,*, Li Yang^1,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 78-78, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07130

Abstract It has been widely recognized that stem cells possess the potential of osteogenic differentiation, which greatly contribute to bone repair. Recently, accumulating evidences have indicated that mechanical cues are required for bone repair ^[1,2]. However, how local and recruited stem cells in the bone architecture receive the mechanical signals is poorly understood ^[3,4]. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that macrophages potentially transduce the mechanical signals for stem cell osteogenic lineage. This demonstration has been carried out through a co-culture system to investigate the effect of macrophages which subjected to cyclic stretch on the osteogenic potential of bone… More >

Ning Wang^1,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 21-21, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07550

Abstract Decades ago YC Fung proposed that mechanical stress could have substantial impacts on remodeling and growth of living tissues. Fung also proposed the concept of residual stress in blood vessels and quantified residual stress in excised arteries [1]. However, how stress influences cell and tissue functions remains elusive. At the cellular level, we have quantified myosin II mediated pre-existing tensile stress (prestress) in living cells and demonstrated that the prestress (the endogenous cytoskeletal tension) regulates cell stiffness, gene expression, and long-distance stress propagation in the cytoplasm to activate enzymes [2]. The prestress even impacts on force-induced direct chromatin stretching and… More >