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Mechanosensitive genomic enhancers potentiate the cellular response to matrix stiffness

Charlie Gersbach, Greg Crawford, Purushothama Rao Tata, Yarui Diao, and colleagues discovered how physical forces in a cell’s environment, like stiffness or softness, can affect gene activity. They discovered special DNA regions, called mechanoenhancers, that turn genes on or off depending on the mechanical cues in the cellular microenvironment. Mechanoenhancers control important cell behaviors such as growth, movement, and survival, and by editing them, scientists were able to change how lung cells respond to mechanical stress, which could lead to new treatments for diseases caused by abnormal tissue stiffness, like fibrosis.

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