Open AccessImaging methods in mechanosensing: a historical perspective and visions for the future
Author(s) -
Kirill Lavrenyuk,
Daniel E. Conway,
Kris Noel Dahl
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
molecular biology of the cell
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.463
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1939-4586
pISSN - 1059-1524
DOI - 10.1091/mbc.e20-10-0671
Subject(s) - biology , mechanotransduction , motor protein , actin , cytoskeleton , actin cytoskeleton , myosin , neuroscience , microbiology and biotechnology , perspective (graphical) , vision , cell , microtubule , genetics , computer science , philosophy , theology , artificial intelligence
Over the past three decades, as mechanobiology has become a distinct area of study, researchers have developed novel imaging tools to discover the pathways of biomechanical signaling. Early work with substrate engineering and particle tracking demonstrated the importance of cell-extracellular matrix interactions on the cell cycle as well as the mechanical flux of the intracellular environment. Most recently, tension sensor approaches allowed directly measuring tension in cell-cell and cell-substrate interactions. We retrospectively analyze how these various optical techniques progressed the field and suggest our vision forward for a unified theory of cell mechanics, mapping cellular mechanosensing, and novel biomedical applications for mechanobiology.