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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2016 Feb 25;40:16–23. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2016.02.003

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Mechanosignaling regulation of macrophage phenotype. (a) Macrophages (MΦ) derived from either the circulating monocyte pool or the tissue resident macrophage pool must adapt and respond to a variety of stresses and strains during their lifespan. Differentiation into either classically (M1) or alternatively activated (M2) macrophages is directed by chemokine and cytokine input, but also by varied mechanosignaling caused by changes in ECM stiffness and/or cell morphology. (b) Close up view of cell ECM interactions and mechanotransduction. Integrin attachment to ECM activates signal transduction via Rho GTPase mediated actin myosin contractility to direct cellular behaviors. Additional changes include stimulation of YAP/TAZ transcriptional regulators and downstream targets of phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K) that regulate cell growth, FAK, focal adhesion kinase; ROCK, Rho associated protein kinase; YAP, yes associated protein; TAZ, transcriptional co activator with PDZ binding motif.