Abstract:
Mechanosensing, or how cells sense and respond to the physical environment, is crucial for many aspects of biological function, ranging from cell movement during development to cancer metastasis, the immune response and gene expression driving cell fate determination. Relevant physical stimuli include the stiffness of the extracellular matrix, contractile forces, shear flows in blood vessels, complex topography of the cellular microenvironment and membrane protein mobility. Although mechanosensing has been more widely studied in non-immune cells, it has become increasingly clear that physical cues profoundly affect the signaling function of cells of the immune system. In this Review, we summarize recent studies on mechanical regulation of immune cells, specifically lymphocytes, and explore how the force-generating cytoskeletal machinery might mediate mechanosensing. We discuss general principles governing mechanical regulation of lymphocyte function, spanning from the molecular scale of receptor activation to cellular responses to mechanical stimuli.
摘要:
机械传感,或者细胞如何感知和响应物理环境,对生物功能的许多方面都至关重要,从发育过程中的细胞运动到癌症转移,免疫反应和基因表达驱动细胞命运的决定。相关的物理刺激包括细胞外基质的硬度,收缩力,血管中的剪切流,细胞微环境和膜蛋白迁移率的复杂形貌。尽管机械传感在非免疫细胞中得到了更广泛的研究,越来越清楚的是,物理线索深刻地影响着免疫系统细胞的信号功能。在这篇评论中,我们总结了最近关于免疫细胞机械调节的研究,特别是淋巴细胞,并探索产生力的细胞骨架机制如何介导机械传感。我们讨论了淋巴细胞功能的机械调节的一般原则,从受体激活的分子尺度到细胞对机械刺激的反应。