MECHANOBIOLOGY IN STRUCTURAL LUNG CELLS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF IT’S CHANGES IN ASTHMA

Abstract

Mechanobiology is an emerging field of science at the interface of biology and engineering that focuses on how physical forces and changes in the mechanical properties of cells and tissues contribute to development, cell differentiation, physiology and disease. A major challenge in the field is understanding mechanotransduction – the molecular mechanisms by which cells sense and respond to mechanical signals. While medicine has typically looked for the genetic and biochemical basis of disease, advances in mechanobiology suggest that changes in cell mechanics, extracellular matrix structure, or mechanotransduction may contribute to the development of many diseases, including atherosclerosis, fibrosis, asthma, osteoporosis, heart failure and cancer. Airway remodeling – irreversible airway structural changes associated with poorer asthma control and more serious disease course. The article reviews the basic structural cells participating in the pathogenesis of asthma, their mechanobiological changes and their influence on the clinical disease expression.