Background

Over the course of the last two decades, it became progressively clear that physical, i.e. mechanical forces play a major role in cellular decision making and aid in regulating important physiological processes like tissue growth and morphogenesis. To actively generate forces, cells use a highly complex and self-organized contractile structure called the actin cytoskeleton which allows them to explore the mechanical and geometric properties of their environment through cell- matrix and cell-cell adhesions. These informations are then fed back to the cell, and evaluated by means of chemical signals a process which is known as mechanotransduction. Although research has yielded many new insights in recent years it is still puzzling how cells integrate information from their environment into their decision-making process. Therefore, it is important to study how cells generate forces, how the internal molecular machinery regulates them, and how these forces transmit information in multicellular systems to understand processes such as development, organogenesis, homeostasis or diseases like cancer.

Pushing from within

Recent research has demonstrated that cells are able to migrate efficiently through low-adhesion environments.