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  • Review Article
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Multiscale force sensing in development

Nature Cell Biology volume 19, pages 581–588 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

The seminal observation that mechanical signals can elicit changes in biochemical signalling within cells, a process commonly termed mechanosensation and mechanotransduction, has revolutionized our understanding of the role of cell mechanics in various fundamental biological processes, such as cell motility, adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. In this Review, we will discuss how the interplay and feedback between mechanical and biochemical signals control tissue morphogenesis and cell fate specification in embryonic development.

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Figure 1: The cell mechanosensors.
Figure 2: The mechanosensing processes of embryonic development.
Figure 3: The crosstalk of mechanical and biochemical signals in development.

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Acknowledgements

We apologize to all authors whose primary papers could not be cited because of space limitations. We thank the members of the Heisenberg lab for useful comments on the manuscript. N.I.P is supported by the EMBO long-term fellowships (ALTF 534-2016) and Z.S. by the Institute of Science and Technology Austria fellowship (I_CAHE_IFELL01).

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  1. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus 1, 3400, Klosterneuburg, Austria

    Nicoletta I. Petridou, Zoltán Spiró & Carl-Philipp Heisenberg

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Petridou, N., Spiró, Z. & Heisenberg, CP. Multiscale force sensing in development. Nat Cell Biol 19, 581–588 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3524

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