Increasing evidence demonstrates that mechanical forces, in addition to soluble molecules, impact cell and tissue functions in physiology and diseases. How living cells integrate mechanical signals to perform appropriate biological functions is an area of intense investigation. Here, we review the evidence of the central role of cytoskeletal prestress in mechanotransduction and mechanobiology. Elevating cytoskeletal prestress increases cell stiffness and reinforces cell stiffening, facilitates long-range cytoplasmic mechanotransduction via integrins, enables direct chromatin stretching and rapid gene expression, spurs embryonic development and stem cell differentiation, and boosts immune cell activation and killing of tumor cells whereas lowering cytoskeletal prestress maintains embryonic stem cell pluripotency, promotes tumorigenesis and metastasis of stem cell-like malignant tumor-repopulating cells, and elevates drug delivery efficiency of soft-tumor-cell-derived microparticles. The overwhelming evidence suggests that the cytoskeletal prestress is the governing principle and the cellular hallmark in mechanobiology. The application of mechanobiology to medicine (mechanomedicine) is rapidly emerging and may help advance human health and improve diagnostics, treatment, and therapeutics of diseases.

中文翻译：

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细胞骨架预应力：力学生物学和力学医学的细胞标志


越来越多的证据表明，除了可溶性分子之外，机械力也会影响生理和疾病中的细胞和组织功能。活细胞如何整合机械信号来执行适当的生物功能是一个深入研究的领域。在这里，我们回顾了细胞骨架预应力在力传导和力生物学中的核心作用的证据。提高细胞骨架预应力可增加细胞刚度并增强细胞硬化，通过整合素促进长程细胞质机械转导，实现染色质直接拉伸和快速基因表达，刺激胚胎发育和干细胞分化，促进免疫细胞激活和杀死肿瘤细胞，同时降低细胞骨架预应力维持胚胎干细胞的多能性，促进干细胞样恶性肿瘤再生细胞的肿瘤发生和转移，并提高软肿瘤细胞衍生微粒的药物递送效率。压倒性的证据表明，细胞骨架预应力是力学生物学的控制原理和细胞标志。机械生物学在医学（机械医学）中的应用正在迅速兴起，可能有助于促进人类健康并改善疾病的诊断、治疗和治疗。