Ethier C Ross, Herberg Samuel
Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University, Atlanta, GA USA.
Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA USA.
NPJ Biol Phys Mech. 2025;2(1):18. doi: 10.1038/s44341-025-00022-6. Epub 2025 Jul 4.
The eye presents a very dynamic biomechanical environment, and thus ocular cells must be highly mechanosensitive and mechanoresponsive. Moreover, defects in mechanobiological pathways contribute to a number of sight-threatening ocular diseases, highlighting the importance of ocular mechanobiology. We here give a concise overview of the mechanobiology of ocular cells in the lens and cornea (and how mechanobiology plays a role in associated pathologies in these tissues), before providing a detailed review of the mechanobiology of the common blinding disease, glaucoma. Mechanical stimuli are intimately linked with the pathology of glaucoma, both in terms of altered homeostasis of the eye's internal pressure control system and in the response of neural cells to elevated pressure in the eye. A complex array of mechanosensory elements (stretch-activated ion channels, integrins, G protein-coupled receptors) work together with intersecting networks of mechanotransducing pathways in cells of both the posterior and anterior eye in glaucoma. Despite intense research efforts over the past decades, much remains unknown about the mechanobiology of glaucoma. Continued investigation of glaucomatous mechanobiology is important, as it may reveal novel targets for treating this challenging disease.
眼睛呈现出一个非常动态的生物力学环境，因此眼细胞必须具有高度的机械敏感性和机械反应性。此外，机械生物学途径的缺陷会导致许多威胁视力的眼部疾病，这凸显了眼机械生物学的重要性。在此，我们简要概述晶状体和角膜中眼细胞的机械生物学（以及机械生物学如何在这些组织的相关病理中发挥作用），然后详细综述常见致盲疾病青光眼的机械生物学。机械刺激与青光眼的病理密切相关，这体现在眼内压控制系统的内环境稳态改变以及神经细胞对眼内压力升高的反应方面。在青光眼中，一系列复杂的机械感觉元件（牵张激活离子通道、整合素、G蛋白偶联受体）与眼后段和前段细胞中的机械转导途径交叉网络共同发挥作用。尽管在过去几十年里进行了大量深入研究，但关于青光眼的机械生物学仍有许多未知之处。持续研究青光眼的机械生物学很重要，因为它可能揭示治疗这一具有挑战性疾病的新靶点。
