Inhomogeneous mechanotransduction defines the spatial pattern of apoptosis-induced compensatory proliferation.

The number of cells in tissues is controlled by cell division and cell death, and its misregulation could lead to pathological conditions such as cancer. To maintain the cell numbers, a cell-elimination process called apoptosis also stimulates the proliferation of neighboring cells. This mechanism, apoptosis-induced compensatory proliferation, was originally described more than 40 years ago.

Interfacial friction and substrate deformation mediate long-range signal propagation in tissues.

Tissue layers can generally slide at the interface, accompanied by the dissipation due to friction. Nevertheless, it remains elusive how force could propagate in a tissue with such interfacial friction. Here, we elaborate the force dynamics in a prototypical multilayer system in which an epithelial monolayer was cultivated upon an elastic substrate in contact with a hard surface, and discover a novel mechanism of pronounced force propagation over a long distance due to interfacial dynamics between substrate layers.

Lung Cancer Induces NK Cell Contractility and Cytotoxicity Through Transcription Factor Nuclear Localization.

Actomyosin-mediated cellular contractility is highly conserved for mechanotransduction and signalling. While this phenomenon has been observed in adherent cell models, whether/how contractile forces regulate the function of suspension cells like natural killer (NK) cells during cancer surveillance, is unknown. Here, we demonstrated in coculture settings that the evolutionarily conserved NK cell transcription factor, Eomes, undergoes nuclear shuttling during lung cancer cell surveillance.

Epithelial Cell Packing Induces Distinct Modes of Cell Extrusions.

The control of tissue growth, which is a key to maintain the protective barrier function of the epithelium, depends on the balance between cell division and cell extrusion rates [1, 2]. Cells within confluent epithelial layers undergo cell extrusion, which relies on cell-cell interactions [3] and actomyosin contractility [4, 5]. Although it has been reported that cell extrusion is also dependent on cell density [6, 7], the contribution of tissue mechanics, which is tightly regulated by cell density [8-12], to cell extrusion is still poorly understood.