Cardiovascular mechanobiology—a Special Issue to look at the state of the art and the newest insights into the role of mechanical forces in cardiovascular development, physiology and disease

Abstract

There has been much progress recently in the area of cardiovascular mechanobiology and this Special Issue aims at taking stock. This editorial gives context of the main motivation for this special issue as well as a brief summary of its content.Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the primary cause of mortality, and the disease burden is projected to grow because of sedentary lifestyles and an ageing society. Vascular diseases and especially atherosclerosis, if untreated, are the dominant underlying cause of CVD. Moreover, cardiac disease progressing to heart failure is the leading cause of death among cardiovascular diseases. Underlying genetic causes and mechanisms are progressively being uncovered, e.g. through Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS)

Biophysical Reviews— 2021, the year that was

“…Issue 5 This first Special Issue of the year, guest-edited by Dr. Thomas Iskratch and Dr. Pamela Swiatlowska, was concerned with the topic of cardiovascular mechanobiology (Swiatlowska and Iskratsch 2021). The "Meet the Editor" piece for this issue was contributed by Elizabeth Ehler, who after an initial degree in Austria went on to become a professor and a group leader at Kings College London using complex microscopic methods to investigate muscle structure at the cellular and subcellular levels (Ehler 2021).…”