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Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Imaging Integrin Tension and Cellular Force at Submicron Resolution with an Integrative Tension Sensor
Published on: April 25, 2019
Quantifying molecular tension-classifications, interpretations and limitations of force sensors
Adam Yasunaga1,2, Yousif Murad1,2, Isaac T S Li1,3
1Department of Chemistry, The University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada.
Abstract:
Molecular force sensors (MFSs) have grown to become an important tool to study the mechanobiology of cells and tissues. They provide a minimally invasive means to optically report mechanical interactions at the molecular level. One of the challenges in molecular force sensor studies is the interpretation of the fluorescence readout. In this review, we divide existing MFSs into three classes based on the force-sensing mechanism (reversibility) and the signal output (analog/digital). From single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) perspectives, we provided a critical discussion on how the sensors respond to force and how the different sensor designs affect the interpretation of their fluorescence readout. Lastly, the review focuses on the limitations and attention one must pay in designing MFSs and biological experiments using them; in terms of their tunability, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and perturbation of the biological system under investigation.
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