Cells and tissues generate and are exposed to various mechanical forces that act across a range of scales, from tissues to cells to organelles. Forces provide crucial signals to inform cell behaviour during development and adult tissue homeostasis, and alterations in forces and in their downstream mechanotransduction pathways can influence disease progression. Recent advances have been made in our understanding of the mechanisms by which forces regulate chromatin organization and state, and of the mechanosensitive transcription factors that respond to the physical properties of the cell microenvironment to coordinate gene expression, cell states and behaviours. These insights highlight the relevance of mechanosensitive transcriptional regulation to physiology, disease and emerging therapies.

细胞和组织产生并暴露于各种机械力，这些机械力作用于从组织到细胞再到细胞器的一系列尺度。力提供关键信号以告知发育和成人组织稳态期间的细胞行为，并且力及其下游机械转导途径的改变可以影响疾病进展。我们对力调节染色质组织和状态的机制以及响应细胞微环境的物理特性以协调基因表达、细胞状态和行为的机械敏感转录因子的理解取得了最新进展。这些见解突出了机械敏感转录调控与生理学、疾病和新兴疗法的相关性。