Mechanical forces and the 3D genome
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Updated: Jul 11, 2025

Direct Force Measurements of Subcellular Mechanics in Confinement using Optical Tweezers
Published on: August 31, 2021
1ETH Zurich and Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Traditionally, the field of genomics has been studied from a biochemical perspective. Besides chemical influences, cells are subject to a variety of mechanical signals from their surrounding tissue microenvironment. These mechanical signals can not only cause changes to a cell's physical structure but can also lead to alterations in their genomes and gene expression programs. Understanding the mechanical control of genome organization and expression may provide a new perspective on gene regulation.
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