The Role of Extracellular Matrix, Cell Membrane and Nuclear Involvement in Cellular Driven Mechanotransduction

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Biochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 5668

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
Interests: extracellular matrix (ECM); mechanotransduction; cell membrane
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Gravity plays a central role in vertebrate development and evolution, in the tissue responses to implants, and in mechanical forces applied to cells and tissues. Gravitational forces acting on mammalian tissues cause the net muscle forces required for locomotion to be higher on Earth than on a body subjected to microgravitation. Extracellular matrices (ECMs) are multicomponent tissues that transduce internal and external mechanical signals into changes in tissue structure and function through a process termed mechanotransduction. Under the influence of an external gravitational field, both soft and hard vertebrate tissues exhibit internal tensile forces that serve to preserve a synthetic phenotype in the resident cell population. This involves signals that affect the cell membrane, cytosol, nuclear membrane, and cell nucleus. The application of external forces alters the balance between the external gravitational force and internal forces acting on resident cells, leading to changes in the expression of genes and production of protein that may ultimately alter the exact structure and function of the ECM.

Mechanotransduction is thought to involve several different macromolecular components and processes including direct stretching of the protein–cell surface integrin binding sites that occur on all eukaryotic cells (integrin-dependent mechanisms), and the deformation of gap junctions containing calcium sensitive stretch receptors. Once activated, these channels activate secondary messengers through pathways such as those involved in integrin-dependent activation and enable cell-to-cell communication between cells with similar and different phenotypes. Mechanical forces have been shown to alter cell membrane ion channel permeability associated with Ca+2 and other ion fluxes, and the activation of growth factor and hormone receptors even in the absence of ligand binding.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to attempt to examine the complex relationships between the effects of mechanical forces on cell membranes, the cell cytoplasm, and nuclear events that are associated with mechanotransduction.

Dr. Frederick H. Silver
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • cell membrane
  • cytosol
  • nuclear membrane
  • integrin
  • mechanotransduction
  • map kinase pathway
  • ERKs
  • JNKs
  • p38/SAPKs
  • YAP/TAZ
  • Hippo pathway

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

49 pages, 5746 KiB  
Review
Extracellular Matrix Components and Mechanosensing Pathways in Health and Disease
by Aikaterini Berdiaki, Monica Neagu, Petros Tzanakakis, Ioanna Spyridaki, Serge Pérez and Dragana Nikitovic
Biomolecules 2024, 14(9), 1186; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom14091186 - 20 Sep 2024
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5198
Abstract
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and proteoglycans (PGs) are essential components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) with pivotal roles in cellular mechanosensing pathways. GAGs, such as heparan sulfate (HS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS), interact with various cell surface receptors, including integrins and receptor tyrosine kinases, to [...] Read more.
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and proteoglycans (PGs) are essential components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) with pivotal roles in cellular mechanosensing pathways. GAGs, such as heparan sulfate (HS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS), interact with various cell surface receptors, including integrins and receptor tyrosine kinases, to modulate cellular responses to mechanical stimuli. PGs, comprising a core protein with covalently attached GAG chains, serve as dynamic regulators of tissue mechanics and cell behavior, thereby playing a crucial role in maintaining tissue homeostasis. Dysregulation of GAG/PG-mediated mechanosensing pathways is implicated in numerous pathological conditions, including cancer and inflammation. Understanding the intricate mechanisms by which GAGs and PGs modulate cellular responses to mechanical forces holds promise for developing novel therapeutic strategies targeting mechanotransduction pathways in disease. This comprehensive overview underscores the importance of GAGs and PGs as key mediators of mechanosensing in maintaining tissue homeostasis and their potential as therapeutic targets for mitigating mechano-driven pathologies, focusing on cancer and inflammation. Full article
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