Sara A. Wickström: Mechanical regulation of cell states

The structure of tissues is tightly linked to their function. During formation of functional organs, large-scale changes in tissue elongation, stretching, compression, folding/buckling, and budding impact the shape, position, packing, and contractility state of cells. Conversely, changes in single cell contractility, shape and position locally alter tissue organization and mechanics. Thus, forces function as important ques that are transmitted to the nucleus to coordinate gene expression programs to control cell states. On the other hand, excessive mechanical stresses have the potential to damage cells and tissues. In my presentation I will discuss our recent research on how cells sense mechanical forces and how these mechanosignals are integrated with biochemical inputs to alter cell states in health and disease.