Mechanical Regulation of Transcription: Recent Advances

Abstract

Mechanotransduction is the ability of a cell to sense mechanical cues from its microenvironment and convert them into biochemical signals to elicit adaptive transcriptional and other cellular responses. Here, we describe recent advances in the field of mechanical regulation of transcription, highlight mechanical regulation of the epigenome as a key novel aspect of mechanotransduction, and describe recent technological advances that could further elucidate the link between mechanical stimuli and gene expression. In this review, we emphasize the importance of mechanotransduction as one of the governing principles of cancer progression, underscoring the need to conduct further studies of the molecular mechanisms involved in sensing mechanical cues and coordinating transcriptional responses.

Keywords: 3D culture; chromatin architecture; genomics; light microscopy; mechanosensing; transcription.