RESEARCH FIELD

Mechanobiology

Mechanobiology investigates how mechanical forces and physical properties of the cellular environment regulate biological processes — from gene expression to cell fate, tissue organisation, and organ function. Cells constantly sense and respond to substrate stiffness, shear stress, compression, tension, and topography through mechanoreceptors at the cell surface and the cytoskeletal network. Mechanotransduction — the conversion of mechanical signals into biochemical responses — drives embryonic morphogenesis, wound healing, bone remodelling, vascular physiology, and the progression of cancer, fibrosis, and cardiac disease, where tissue stiffness changes dramatically. Experimental tools include atomic force microscopy for nanomechanical measurements of cells and extracellular matrix, traction force microscopy to quantify cellular contractile forces, micropillar arrays for high-throughput force measurements, and organ-on-chip platforms that recreate physiological mechanical microenvironments. Computational continuum mechanics and agent-based models complement experiments. Mechanobiology attracts funding from NIH, the ERC, biomedical device companies, and the regenerative medicine sector.