Jiang Zong-Lai
Institute of Mechanobiology & Medical Engineering, School of Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, P.O.Box 888, 800 Dongchuan Road, Minhang, Shanghai, 200240, China.
Mechanobiol Med. 2023 Jul 5;1(1):100002. doi: 10.1016/j.mbm.2023.100002. eCollection 2023 Sep.
Mechanobiology is an interdisciplinary discipline combining biology, engineering, chemistry, physics, and medicine. Mechanobiology research comprehensively discusses, the role of mechanical factors in various life processes and the occurrence and development of associated and diseases at the whole organism, organ, cell, protein and gene levels. The cellular and molecular mechanisms of mechanical signal transduction and response are elucidated, in addition to the discovery of novel biomarkers and potential drug targets, which are mechanosensitive molecules. This paper reviews the development of mechanobiology research in China since the new century, while focusing on the research achievements of Chinese scientists in the field of mechanobiology over the last three years, including cardiovascular, bone and joint, tumor, cellular, and molecular mechanobiology. Meanwhile, it has been suggested that in the future, mechanobiology research should include are indicated detailed studies on the mechanobiological mechanism of diseases at the cellular and molecular levels firstly, so that the newly discovered biomarkers or potential targets can gradually achieve clinical transformation. Second, future research should strengthen the qualitative and quantitative combination of biological experiments and mechanical and mathematical modeling analyses, especially at cellular, subcellular and molecular scales. Mechanobiological studies are of great theoretical and practical significance for our understanding of the mechanical mechanisms and natural laws of growth and senility of the human body, expounding pathological mechanisms of diseases, and researching and developing new medicines and technologies to promote biomedical and clinical research for human health.
机械生物学是一门融合生物学、工程学、化学、物理学和医学的交叉学科。机械生物学研究全面探讨了机械因素在各种生命过程以及相关疾病在整个生物体、器官、细胞、蛋白质和基因水平上的发生发展中的作用。除了发现作为机械敏感分子的新型生物标志物和潜在药物靶点外,还阐明了机械信号转导和响应的细胞和分子机制。本文回顾了新世纪以来中国机械生物学研究的发展情况,重点介绍了中国科学家在过去三年里在机械生物学领域的研究成果,包括心血管、骨关节、肿瘤、细胞和分子机械生物学等方面。同时,建议未来机械生物学研究应首先对疾病在细胞和分子水平上的机械生物学机制进行详细研究,以便新发现的生物标志物或潜在靶点能够逐步实现临床转化。其次,未来研究应加强生物学实验与机械和数学建模分析的定性和定量结合,尤其是在细胞、亚细胞和分子尺度上。机械生物学研究对于我们理解人体生长衰老的力学机制和自然规律、阐明疾病的病理机制以及研发促进人类健康的生物医学和临床研究的新药和新技术具有重要的理论和实践意义。