Liao Xiaoyu, Li Xin, Liu Rui
State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Research Unit of Oral Carcinogenesis and Management, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, 14, Section 3, Renminnan Road, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, China.
Rev Endocr Metab Disord. 2023 Apr;24(2):207-220. doi: 10.1007/s11154-022-09768-z. Epub 2022 Nov 17.
Mechanical forces are the indispensable constituent of environmental cues, such as gravity, barometric pressure, vibration, and contact with bodies, which are involved in pattern and organogenesis, providing mechanical input to tissues and determining the ultimate fate of cells. Extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness, the slow elastic force, carries the external physical force load onto the cell or outputs the internal force exerted by the cell and its neighbors into the environment. Accumulating evidence illustrates the pivotal role of ECM stiffness in the regulation of organogenesis, maintenance of tissue homeostasis, and the development of multiple diseases, which is largely fulfilled through its systematical impact on cellular metabolism. This review summarizes the establishment and regulation of ECM stiffness, the mechanisms underlying how ECM stiffness is sensed by cells and signals to modulate diverse cell metabolic pathways, and the physiological and pathological significance of the ECM stiffness-cell metabolism axis.
机械力是环境线索中不可或缺的组成部分，如重力、气压、振动以及与物体的接触，这些都参与了模式形成和器官发生，为组织提供机械输入并决定细胞的最终命运。细胞外基质（ECM）硬度，即缓慢的弹力，将外部物理力负载传递到细胞上，或将细胞及其邻居施加的内力输出到环境中。越来越多的证据表明，ECM硬度在器官发生调节、组织稳态维持以及多种疾病发展中起着关键作用，这在很大程度上是通过其对细胞代谢的系统性影响来实现的。本综述总结了ECM硬度的建立和调节、细胞感知ECM硬度并发出信号以调节多种细胞代谢途径的潜在机制，以及ECM硬度 - 细胞代谢轴的生理和病理意义。
