Mechanobiochemical Crosstalk in Tissue Engineering

Cells continuously interpret mechanical cues — substrate stiffness, strain, shear, and topology — and translate them into biochemical signalling cascades that steer proliferation, differentiation, and morphogenesis. Despite growing recognition of this mechanobiochemical crosstalk, tissue engineering has historically treated mechanical and biochemical inputs as separate design variables, optimized independently rather than as an integrated regulatory system. Recent advances in mechanotransduction research — from ion-channel gating and receptor activation to remote and contactless actuation strategies — offer new opportunities to deliberately couple physical stimulation with biochemical signalling in engineered tissue constructs and organoids. This Research Topic brings together researchers working at this interface to examine how mechanical and biochemical signals interact, reinforce, or override one another during tissue formation and function, and how this crosstalk can be harnessed to engineer more physiologically relevant tissue models.This Research Topic aims to advance the mechanistic understanding and deliberate engineering of mechanobiochemical crosstalk in tissue constructs and organoid systems. We welcome contributions that dissect how mechanical stimuli — including substrate mechanics, dynamic loading, and remote or contactless actuation — are transduced into biochemical signalling events, and how these events feed back to alter local mechanics and cell fate. We are particularly interested in work that treats the mechanical microenvironment as an actively engineered, tunable parameter rather than a fixed backdrop, and in approaches that quantify or model the coupling between mechanical and biochemical regulatory layers. Contributions addressing organ-on-chip and bioreactor-based platforms as tools for delivering and studying this crosstalk — rather than as ends in themselves — are especially encouraged. The ultimate goal is to move tissue engineering practice toward the intentional co-design of mechanical and biochemical cues for improved tissue function and translational relevance.We welcome submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:- Mechanotransduction pathways (e.g., ion channels, Wnt/β-catenin, YAP/TAZ) linking mechanical stimulation to biochemical signalling in engineered tissues- Remote, magnetic, or contactless actuation strategies for spatiotemporal control of mechanosignalling- Bioreactor- and organ-on-chip-based mechanical stimulation regimes and their biochemical readouts- Mechanically guided stem cell differentiation and organoid morphogenesis- Computational and biophysical models of mechanobiochemical feedback- Methods for measuring mechanical–biochemical coupling in situ.Studies focused primarily on biomaterial or scaffold fabrication without addressing the mechanobiochemical signalling dimension fall outside this topic’s scope. Topic editors: Michael Rotherham, James Henstock, Ana I. Gonçalves Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84519/mechanobiochemical-crosstalk-in-tissue-engineering