Fig. 3.

(a) Overview of mechanotransduction. Integrin receptors recognise and bind to cell-adhesive ligands in the extracellular matrix (ECM), initiating the formation of intracellular focal adhesion complexes (left panel). Signalling molecules directly stimulate downstream transcription and linker proteins in the complex bind to actin filaments, which can generate a tensile force in conjunction with myosin II activity. Adapted from [26]. (b) Increased substrate stiffness induces the formation of focal adhesion complexes (green) and actin polymerisation and alignment (red) in human mesenchymal stem cells. Adapted from [4]. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)