Proteins play essential roles in all aspects of cellular processes, such as biosynthesis, division, growth, motility, metabolism, signaling, and transmission of genetic information. Proteins, however, could deform under mechanical forces, thus altering their biological functions. Here we present protein deformation as a possible molecular basis for mechanosensing and mechanotransduction, elucidate the important features of protein mechanics including protein deformation mode and dynamics, illustrate how protein deformation could alter biological function, and describe the important roles of protein deformation in force-sensing, force transducing and mechanochemical coupling in cells. The experimental and modeling challenges in protein mechanics are discussed.

中文翻译：

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蛋白质力学：生物力学的新前沿

蛋白质在细胞过程的各个方面都发挥着重要作用，例如生物合成、分裂、生长、运动、代谢、信号传导和遗传信息的传递。然而，蛋白质会在机械力作用下变形，从而改变它们的生物学功能。在这里，我们将蛋白质变形作为机械传感和机械转导的可能分子基础，阐明蛋白质力学的重要特征，包括蛋白质变形模式和动力学，说明蛋白质变形如何改变生物功能，并描述蛋白质变形在力传感中的重要作用，细胞中的力转导和机械化学耦合。讨论了蛋白质力学中的实验和建模挑战。