Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is a continuation of our previous Special Issue “Physical Energies and Morphogenetic Signaling”.

Understanding how biological information is shaped from the nanoscale level of molecular/supramolecular interactions to the subcellular and cellular level, up to the pattern control of large-scale anatomy and morphogenesis, has led to numerous unanswered questions and a need to boost novel strategies for regenerative and precision medicine.

The field of stem cell biology is evolving in parallel with our awareness of mechanobiology and cellular mechanosensing, and the compelling evidence that stem cells are also finely tuned by physical energies, including mechanical vibrations, bioelectricity, magnetic fields and light.

Compounding the complexity of this picture, cellular responses to physical stimulation vary in their quality and extent depending on whether the same stimulus was sent in a continuous or pulsed fashion. Within the pulsed modality, a multifaceted (stem) cell behavior emerged based upon the frequency and the interval composition patterning of exposure. On these bases, we are discovering that (stem) cells are also able to afford computational tasks, transforming electromagnetic inputs, including light radiation, into mechanical signaling, and vice versa.

Unveiling the morphogenetic code that cells are using to compose the symphony of a software of Life, we have found that orchestrating the hardware of cellular genome and biomolecular signaling is still in an early stage. Only recently have researchers made seminal discoveries from pioneering studies, approaching a challenging scientific endeavor to shift our understanding of biophysical signaling from a punctual level (i.e., a biophysical dissection of individual players at targeted subcellular locations) to a wider interconnected picture. Boosting this transition process will help us to decipher the complex dynamics through which physical forces and molecular cues concur in shaping a morphogenetic code. Hopefully, this path may soon lead to the development of unprecedented tools to deliver defined, and well-characterized electro-magnetic- or electro-mechanical stimuli in confined tissues to overcome diseased states, including malignancies, and boost our inherent self-healing potential.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for basic and translational science, publishing innovative research and review articles contributed by eminent scientists using physical energies, including electromagnetic fields, light and mechanical vibrations, and eventually exploiting the growing development in electronics and artificial intelligence (AI), to target (stem)cell/tissue morphogenesis and regenerative potential.

Authors’ contributions are not restricted to a particular field of morphogenesis and regeneration; they can span all models of degenerative diseases, including malignant transformation and rescue.

Prof. Dr. Carlo Ventura
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• regeneration/repair

• regenerative medicine
• stem cells
• physical energies
• mechanical vibrations
• mechanobiology
• magnetic fields
• electric fields
• bioelectricity
• photobiomodulation
• laser therapy
• physical stimulation
• biophysical signaling
• morphogenetic signaling