“…The antibacterial cathelicidin LL-37 increases the cellular stiffness of lung epithelial cells resulting in reduced uptake of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Byfield et al, 2011). Actin polymerization, focal adhesion signaling, and Rho GTPase activity play important roles in the infection of a wide variety of bacteria (Galan & Zhou, 2000;Prashar et al, 2018;Quintero, Tudela, & Damiani, 2015); thus, while the effects of tissue stiffness on bacterial pathogenesis have thus far not been well studied, we hypothesize that matrix mechanics may be a critical regulator for a range of microbial infections.…”