AUTHOR=Knecht Raphael S. , Bucher Christian H. , Van Linthout Sophie , Tschöpe Carsten , Schmidt-Bleek Katharina , Duda Georg N. TITLE=Mechanobiological Principles Influence the Immune Response in Regeneration: Implications for Bone Healing JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology VOLUME=9 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2021.614508 DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2021.614508 ISSN=2296-4185 ABSTRACT=

A misdirected or imbalanced local immune composition is often one of the reasons for unsuccessful regeneration resulting in scarring or fibrosis. Successful healing requires a balanced initiation and a timely down-regulation of the inflammation for the re-establishment of a biologically and mechanically homeostasis. While biomaterial-based approaches to control local immune responses are emerging as potential new treatment options, the extent to which biophysical material properties themselves play a role in modulating a local immune niche response has so far been considered only occasionally. The communication loop between extracellular matrix, non-hematopoietic cells, and immune cells seems to be specifically sensitive to mechanical cues and appears to play a role in the initiation and promotion of a local inflammatory setting. In this review, we focus on the crosstalk between ECM and its mechanical triggers and how they impact immune cells and non-hematopoietic cells and their crosstalk during tissue regeneration. We realized that especially mechanosensitive receptors such as TRPV4 and PIEZO1 and the mechanosensitive transcription factor YAP/TAZ are essential to regeneration in various organ settings. This indicates novel opportunities for therapeutic approaches to improve tissue regeneration, based on the immune-mechanical principles found in bone but also lung, heart, and skin.