Cells continuously exert physical forces on their surrounding environment and simultaneously perceive and sustain the environment’s mechanical dynamics. This determines both cell and tissue mechanical properties and is reflected in physiological processes such as blood flow or muscle contraction, as well as in diseases such as cancer, where cell and microenvironment mechanics are notoriously altered.  

Deepening our understanding of this bidirectional crosstal­k requires new tools to apply, measure, and control cellular and microenvironmental mechanical properties, forces, and cellular mechanosensitivity. In this methods collection, we will collate novel approaches that have emerged within the field of mechanobiology and are ready to be standardised based on available reproducible commercial components. These will include techniques to quantify mechanical properties, including Brillouin spectroscopy, acoustic force spectroscopy for cell mechanics, and microfluidic technology for single cell mechanics. The collection will also include tools for quantifying cellular mechanosensation, such as high-specificity reporter dyes, specifically Ca2+ based mechanosensitivity assays and cellular and molecular force sensors, as well as high-throughput YAP/TAZ translocation assays.

We believe that this selection of complementary methods is central to highlight the crosstalk between mechanics and mechanosensitivity, and the importance of considering a variety of new approaches to delve into the future of mechanobiology.