Mechanosensitive FHL2 tunes endothelial function.

Endothelial tissues are essential mechanosensors in the vasculature and facilitate adaptation to various blood flow-induced mechanical cues. Defects in endothelial mechanoresponses can perturb tissue remodelling and functions leading to cardiovascular disease progression. In this context, the precise mechanisms of endothelial mechanoresponses contributing to normal and diseased tissue functioning remain elusive.

Confluence and tight junction dependence of volume regulation in epithelial tissue.

Epithelial cell volume regulation is a key component to tissue stability and dynamics. In particular, how cells respond to osmotic stresses is of significant physiological interest in kidney epithelial tissue. For individual mammalian cells, it is well established that Na-K-2Cl cotransporter (NKCC) channels mediate cell volume homeostasis in response to hyperosmotic stress.

Force-dependent intercellular adhesion strengthening underlies asymmetric adherens junction contraction.

Tissue morphogenesis arises from the culmination of changes in cell-cell junction length. Mechanochemical signaling in the form of RhoA underlies these ratcheted contractions, which occur asymmetrically. The underlying mechanisms of asymmetry remain unknown.

Caveolae Spelunking: Exploring a New Modality in Tensional Homeostasis.

In this issue of Developmental Cell, Teo et al. (2020) uncover how caveolae control a PIP-FMNL2 pathway that regulates tensional homeostasis at cell-cell junctions. They further examine caveolae-mediated tensional dysregulation and its functional consequences in oncogenic cell extrusion.