The connection between engineering of the nanoscale and mechanobiology has emerged as a frontier of science and engineering that offers unprecedented insights into how mechanical forces at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels influence biological systems. At the 7th edition of the Nanoengineering for Mechanobiology (N4M) symposium that was held in Camogli (Italy) during March 2024, the latest breakthroughs were reported, and in this topical issue, we seek to capture the vibrancy and innovation of this dynamic field.
Following tradition, the 2024 edition of N4M was co-designed with a special guest organiser, Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Müller from ETH Zürich. This edition was made possible thanks to the scientific and financial support of the following institutions: ETH Zürich, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), Hylomorph AG, and the University of Glasgow in collaboration with The Company of Biologists, the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO), and the Italian Society of Pure and Applied Biophysics (SIBPA) as partners.
Over the course of five days, different topics were approached in an interdisciplinary and cross-cutting way. Specific sessions were dedicated to nanomechanics and mechanosensing, cellular mechanics and mechanobiology, modelling mechanobiology, collective cellular process, and organoids and multicellular systems. EMBO sponsored the talks of Prof. Dr. Barbara Treutlein (ETH Zürich) on exploring single-cell and organoids technologies to study human neural fate specification (He et al. 2024) and of Dr. Verena Ruprecht (Center for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona) on nuclear mechanotransduction and stress adaptability measured with advanced nanoengineering approaches (Català-Castro et al. 2023). SIBPA sponsored the talk of Dr. Hatice Holuigue on native extracellular matrix probes to target patient and tissue-specific cell microenvironment interactions by force spectroscopy (Holuigue and Nacci 2023).
Round table discussions were a cornerstone of this N4M edition. Two parallel sessions, specifically tailored to empower young researchers/students, triggered an open and dynamic exchange of ideas, allowing early-career scientists to interact with experienced professionals. Specifically, Dr. Raghavendra Palankar, associate editor of Nature Nanotechnology, explained the requirements to manage the peer-review process, curating high-quality research to advance scientific knowledge. Dr. Aldo Ferrari from Hylomorph AG and Med. Dr. Timo Nazari-Shafti from Charite’ hospital of Berlin shared with the audience their experience in navigating the regulatory landscape to bring to the market medical devices, which is an intricate process, often presenting significant challenges to innovators.
The Nanoengineering for Mechanobiology 2024 symposium showed the spirit of collaboration that is essential to progress in this field. By bringing together researchers from various disciplines (biology, physics, materials science, engineering, and more), the congress foster the exchange of ideas, build bridges between generations, and emphasize the importance of diversity in thought and experience. Breakthroughs often come when “wisdom meets curiosity”, and established knowledge is challenged by new perspectives. This approach is a proof of the N4M commitment to support the future of research and the formation of new partnerships.
As a follow-up to the event, this topical review includes contributions from different authors. Céline Labouesse and collaborators discuss interesting mechanobiology phenomena occurring in confined environments, where extracellular crowding impacts on cell physiology (Da Silva André and Labouesse 2024). Walker and Morton have extended the reflection, to discuss how the high pressure and low oxygen environment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma shape the mechanobiological response of cells, and how to design engineered hydrogels to recapitulate in vitro a similar microenvironment (Ref: 2024-91 n.d.). The response to mechanical stimuli and mechanical properties is a feature of almost all mammalian cells, and David Beech has discussed this general topic, concentrating on the sensing of fluid flow as mediated by Piezo1 (Beech et al. 2024). Finally, Vassalli and collaborators present an overview of the technological developments required to improve the throughput of current biophysical methods for measuring mechanosensing, supporting the translation of mechanobiology insights towards clinical usability (Ref: 2024-107 n.d.).
This topical issue is both a reflection of the congress and a contribution to science. The reviews that have been included offer a look into the future of this exciting interdisciplinary field.
Acknowledgements
As the editors of this topical issue, we extend our gratitude to the authors, reviewers, and all those who contributed. We also want to highlight the contribution of companies active in this research field which generously supported the N4M 2024 as sponsors and supporters: Springer Link, Nanosurf, Bruker, IC APP IC, Impetux, Cellsense, MMI, and Schaefer Italy. Together, we are shaping a field that holds the promise of transforming science and society alike.
Author contribution
All the authors contributed equally to writing the editorial and managing the topical issue.
Data availability
No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
Declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Footnotes
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
References
- Beech DJ, Fagnen C, Kalli AC (2024) Biological sensing of fluid flow—lessons from PIEZO1. Biophys Rev. 10.1007/s12551-024-01246-x [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed]
- Català-Castro F, Ortiz-Vásquez S, Martínez-Fernández C, Pezzano F, Garcia-Cabau C, Fernández-Campo M, Sanfeliu-Cerdán N, Jiménez-Delgado S, Salvatella X, Ruprecht V, Frigeri PA, Krieg M (2023) Measuring age-dependent viscoelastic properties of organelles, cells and organisms via time-shared optical tweezer microrheology. bioRxiv 2023. 10.1101/2023.10.17.562595
- Da Silva André G, Labouesse C (2024) Mechanobiology of 3D cell confinement and extracellular crowding. Biophys Rev. 10.1007/s12551-024-01244-z [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed]
- He Z, Dony L, Fleck JS et al (2024) An integrated transcriptomic cell atlas of human neural organoids. Nature 635:690–698. 10.1038/s41586-024-08172-8 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Holuigue H, Nacci L et al (2023) Native extracellular matrix probes to target patient- and tissue-specific cell–microenvironment interactions by force spectroscopy. Nanoscale 15:15382–15395. 10.1039/D3NR01568H [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ref: 2024–107 / Marta Cubero Sarabia, Anna Maria Kapetanaki, Massimo Vassalli / Biophysical assays to test cellular mechanosensing: moving towards high throughput [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed]
- Ref: 2024–91 / M Walker, JP Morton / Hydrogel models of PDAC to study cell mechanosensing [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed]
Associated Data
This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.
Data Availability Statement
No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.