Linked Life Data

19422655

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/19422655

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
2009-8-27
pubmed:abstractText
Mechanical forces are essential for tissue homeostasis. In adherent cells, cell-matrix adhesions connect the extracellular matrix (ECM) with the cytoskeleton and transmit forces in both directions. Integrin receptors and signaling molecules in cell-matrix adhesions transduce mechanical into chemical signals, thereby regulating many cellular processes. This review focuses on how cellular mechanotransduction is tuned by actin-generated cytoskeletal tension that balances external with internal mechanical forces. We point out that the cytoskeleton rapidly responds to external forces by RhoA-dependent actin assembly and contraction. This in turn induces remodeling of cell-matrix adhesions and changes in cell shape and orientation. As a consequence, a cell constantly modulates its response to new bouts of external mechanical stimulation. Changes in actin dynamics are monitored by MAL/MKL-1/MRTF-A, a co-activator of serum response factor. Recent evidence suggests that MAL is also involved in coupling mechanically induced changes in the actin cytoskeleton to gene expression. Compared with other, more rapid and transient signals evoked at the cell surface, this parallel mechanotransduction pathway is more sustained and provides spatial and temporal specificity to the response. We describe examples of genes that are regulated by mechanical stress in a manner depending on actin dynamics, among them the ECM protein, tenascin-C.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
1600-0838
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
19
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
490-9
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2009
pubmed:articleTitle
Role of the actin cytoskeleton in tuning cellular responses to external mechanical stress.
pubmed:affiliation
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland. maria.asparuhova@fmi.ch
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't