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Updated: May 10, 2026

Mechanostimulation of Multicellular Organisms Through a High-Throughput Microfluidic Compression System
Published on: December 23, 2022
Multiscale mechanobiology: mechanics at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels
Chin-Lin Guo1, Nolan C Harris, Sithara S Wijeratne
1Department of Bioengineering and Department of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, MC 138-78, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. guochin@caltech.edu.
Abstract:
Mechanical force is present in all aspects of living systems. It affects the conformation of molecules, the shape of cells, and the morphology of tissues. All of these are crucial in architecture-dependent biological functions. Nanoscience of advanced materials has provided knowledge and techniques that can be used to understand how mechanical force is involved in biological systems, as well as to open new avenues to tailor-made bio-mimetic materials with desirable properties.In this article, we describe models and show examples of how force is involved in molecular functioning, cell shape patterning, and tissue morphology.
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