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Biomolecules
Special Issues
Mechanoadaptation of Cell Structures, Signaling Pathways and Molecules
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Mechanoadaptation of Cell Structures, Signaling Pathways and Molecules

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Structure and Dynamics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 7857

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Asier Echarri

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Mechanoadaptation and Caveolae Biology Lab, Cell Biology and Development Area, National Institute for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Interests: mechanobiology; actin cytoskeleton; plasma membrane organization; endocytosis and intracellular trafficking; Abl kinases

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The physical properties of the environment surrounding all organisms play a major role in defining how the organisms look at the macroscopical and microscopical levels. A clear example of this is the effect of gravity, which tunes organismal and cellular biology. In addition to this general force affecting all creatures, there are many local forces and physical constraints that also impinge on the biology of cells in multicellular and unicellular organisms. To be able to adapt to these local forces, cells have evolved to select molecules, molecular circuits and cell structures that can sense those forces and translate them into biochemical signals. Thus, these biochemical changes result in an adaptation to those forces: this is known as mechanoadaptation. This adaptation necessarily involves the activation of mechanosensitive molecules, which leads to the regulation of mechanotransduction pathways that ultimately results in morphological alterations of the major cell structures, such as the actin cytoskeleton, the nucleus or the plasma membrane. However, the molecular mechanisms by which cells adapt to mechanical cues are still poorly understood.

This Special Issue aims to shed light on the mechanisms that sense and transduce mechanical cues for mechanoadaptation. Areas of interest include mechanosensitive molecules and pathways, the physico-chemical reorganization of cell structures and organelles upon force, the interplay between metabolism and mechanical forces, nuclear and genome mechanoadaptation, 3D mechanobiology, lipid biology and mechanical forces, and mathematical modelling and artificial intelligence applied to mechanobiology. We welcome reviews, commentaries and original research articles.

Dr. Asier Echarri
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomolecules is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Mechanosensitive molecules
  • Mechanotransduction pathways
  • Genome mechanoadaptation
  • Organelles and forces
  • Lipids and mechanoadaptation
  • Metabolism and mechanoadaptation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 2534 KiB  
Article
OzTracs: Optical Osmolality Reporters Engineered from Mechanosensitive Ion Channels
by Thomas J. Kleist, I Winnie Lin, Sophia Xu, Grigory Maksaev, Mayuri Sadoine, Elizabeth S. Haswell, Wolf B. Frommer and Michael M. Wudick
Biomolecules 2022, 12(6), 787; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12060787 - 4 Jun 2022
Viewed by 3666
Abstract
Interactions between physical forces and membrane proteins underpin many forms of environmental sensation and acclimation. Microbes survive osmotic stresses with the help of mechanically gated ion channels and osmolyte transporters. Plant mechanosensitive ion channels have been shown to function in defense signaling. Here, [...] Read more.
Interactions between physical forces and membrane proteins underpin many forms of environmental sensation and acclimation. Microbes survive osmotic stresses with the help of mechanically gated ion channels and osmolyte transporters. Plant mechanosensitive ion channels have been shown to function in defense signaling. Here, we engineered genetically encoded osmolality sensors (OzTracs) by fusing fluorescent protein spectral variants to the mechanosensitive ion channels MscL from E. coli or MSL10 from A. thaliana. When expressed in yeast cells, the OzTrac sensors reported osmolality changes as a proportional change in the emission ratio of the two fluorescent protein domains. Live-cell imaging revealed an accumulation of fluorescent sensors in internal aggregates, presumably derived from the endomembrane system. Thus, OzTrac sensors serve as osmolality-dependent reporters through an indirect mechanism, such as effects on molecular crowding or fluorophore solvation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanoadaptation of Cell Structures, Signaling Pathways and Molecules)
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Review

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21 pages, 2335 KiB  
Review
A Multisensory Network Drives Nuclear Mechanoadaptation
by Asier Echarri
Biomolecules 2022, 12(3), 404; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12030404 - 4 Mar 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3451
Abstract
Cells have adapted to mechanical forces early in evolution and have developed multiple mechanisms ensuring sensing of, and adaptation to, the diversity of forces operating outside and within organisms. The nucleus must necessarily adapt to all types of mechanical signals, as its functions [...] Read more.
Cells have adapted to mechanical forces early in evolution and have developed multiple mechanisms ensuring sensing of, and adaptation to, the diversity of forces operating outside and within organisms. The nucleus must necessarily adapt to all types of mechanical signals, as its functions are essential for virtually all cell processes, many of which are tuned by mechanical cues. To sense forces, the nucleus is physically connected with the cytoskeleton, which senses and transmits forces generated outside and inside the cell. The nuclear LINC complex bridges the cytoskeleton and the nuclear lamina to transmit mechanical information up to the chromatin. This system creates a force-sensing macromolecular complex that, however, is not sufficient to regulate all nuclear mechanoadaptation processes. Within the nucleus, additional mechanosensitive structures, including the nuclear envelope and the nuclear pore complex, function to regulate nuclear mechanoadaptation. Similarly, extra nuclear mechanosensitive systems based on plasma membrane dynamics, mechanotransduce information to the nucleus. Thus, the nucleus has the intrinsic structural components needed to receive and interpret mechanical inputs, but also rely on extra nuclear mechano-sensors that activate nuclear regulators in response to force. Thus, a network of mechanosensitive cell structures ensures that the nucleus has a tunable response to mechanical cues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanoadaptation of Cell Structures, Signaling Pathways and Molecules)
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