The nucleus as a mechanosensitive controller of cell behavior

Abstract

Mechanical forces within tissues can induce cell deformation and, as a consequence, influence cell dynamics and the cell’s biophysical state. In confined environments or during migration, cells can experience high degree of compression that has been shown to induce myosin II activation, to increase cellular contractility and to trigger a transformation into a fast-amoeboid migration mode in various cell types. How single cells decode changes in their shape and respond to those by regulating their contractility setpoint remained unclear.