Figure 2.

Levels of organization within tissues. The major building block of tissues are cells. Cell membranes are equipped with a wide range of proteins that help them sense and respond to cues in their microenvironment. Cells also interact with other cells and the surrounding ECM network. This ECM network comprises of various macromolecules (e.g., proteins, polysaccharides) and soluble factors (e.g., growth factors) immobilized in its structure, which promote cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions. This way ECM establishes a favorable niche for cells to grow, spread, differentiate, and perform various functions and also to work together with other cells to form more complex structures toward tissues with specific functionalities. Created with BioRender.com.