T cell activation and immune synapse organization respond to the microscale mechanics of structured surfaces

Significance Cells respond to the mechanical properties of their environment, altering a range of cellular functions important to normal tissue function, disease progression, and repair. This mechanosensing ability has been studied predominantly with planar substrates which, while experimentally advantageous, do not capture the complexity of cellular interfaces. This report demonstrates that T cells respond to the mechanical resistance of microfabricated elastomer structures, identifying an aspect of mechanosensing that has implications from understanding cell–cell interactions to design of biomaterials.