Thinking multi-scale to advance mechanobiology

Abstract

We are inviting submissions of articles on the role of mechanobiology in health and disease with the aim of publishing high quality research devoted to advance our understanding of mechanics shaping biological function. We are also happy to present a Collection of papers already published in our journal in this exciting field.

Quantitative Methodologies to Dissect Immune Cell Mechanobiology

“…The field represents an integral part of ongoing work that seeks to understand how cells integrate and exploit biophysical mechanisms in concert with genetics and biochemical signalling information across scales [ 5 , 19 , 20 ]. T cells, key mediators of the adaptive immune response, carry out their function in mechanically diverse and dynamic tissue microenvironments, being continuously subjected to mechanical forces generated within their surroundings [ 3 , 7 ]. In this regard, it is thus remarkable how T cells maintain exquisite antigen sensitivity [ 21 , 22 ].…”

“…This can be exemplified by both DNA-sequencing techniques and mass spectrometry that have in their own right transformed biological research and led to important insights into biochemical signalling pathways, cellular organization and the tissue microenvironment [1,2]. In recent years, biophysical parameters, such as molecular diffusion rates, cell material properties and mechanical force generation, have become increasingly recognized as functionally relevant for biology across various length and time scales [3,4]. Although recent advances in spectroscopy and microscopy have enabled a whole set of new biophysical studies, there remains a lack of quantitative methodologies with sufficient sensitivity to determine the wide range of biomechanical parameters relevant to the function of the human immune response at all scales, from single molecules, to cells and tissues [5][6][7].…”

“…Owing to this, mechanobiology is gaining increasing interest within the context of the human immune response, but fully elucidating the likely complex role of mechanics in immune cell function relies on the robust quantification of the relevant mechanical parameters with sufficient sensitivity [29]. This represents a significant challenge, given the multi-scale nature of immune cell biomechanics and the tissue microenvironment [3].…”

What Is the Right Mechanical Readout for Understanding the Mechanobiology of the Immune Response?

“…Mechanical force underpins the immune response at the multi-scale (Fritzsche, 2020). While almost all physical forces relevant to immune cell biology are practically restricted to the subcellular level such as electrostatics (e.g., receptor ligand binding) and thermodynamics (e.g., molecule diffusion), biomechanics takes on a special importance as mechanical force influences many functional features and behavior of immune cells over multiple scales in space and time (Dumont and Prakash, 2014;Egan et al, 2015).…”

“…For example, living cells can be elastic, viscous, or visco-elastic depending on the spatial and temporal measurement frequency (see Figure 1A). Adequate quantification promises thus a deeper understanding of the multi-scale spatio-temporal coupling of biology and mechanics and its control over the immune response (Fritzsche, 2020).…”