Mechanosensing in immune cells: Implications for migration and beyond

Effective immune surveillance and host defense require leukocytes to patrol their environment and rapidly respond to threats. Traditionally, immune cells detect inflammatory or pathogenic cues that guide them to sites of infection or tissue damage. In doing so, they navigate across tissues that differ widely in physical and mechanical properties, which can change with physiological or pathological states. Beyond biochemical cues, immune cells actively sense and integrate these mechanical signals, translating them into responses that regulate their migration and immune functions. This review summarizes recent findings in immune cell mechanosensing, from membrane mechanosensors to cytoskeletal and nuclear mechanotransduction, highlighting how these pathways control immune cell migration. We further discuss the role of mechanical cues in shaping the immune-surveillance properties of immune cells, a direction we believe the field is moving toward.