Mechanical Principles of Soft Tissue Development
Soft tissue development mechanics explores how tissues grow, deform, and reorganize under the combined influence of mechanical and biochemical cues.
These processes involve cross-scale mechanical mechanisms—from molecular interactions to tissue-level morphogenesis—and the synergistic coupling of forces (stretching, compression, shear) with biochemical signals (growth factors, morphogens). Such interplay regulates morphological evolution, directs cell fate and patterning, and underlies fundamental life processes such as embryonic development, wound healing, and disease progression.
Understanding these mechanisms is essential for both basic biology and biomedical engineering, including applications in regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and disease modeling.
Key questions
- How do multiscale mechanical forces shape tissue architecture during development?
- What are the synergistic mechanisms between mechanical loading and biochemical signaling?
- How do cells integrate mechanical and biochemical cues to guide differentiation and morphogenesis?
- Can we exploit these couplings to design bioengineered tissues with programmable developmental trajectories?
