Mechanomics in Systems Biology: Multiscale Physical Phenotyping, Computational Modelling, and Translational Applications

Living systems are shaped not only by molecular composition but also by their physical state. Cells, nuclei, and tissues sense and adapt to mechanical forces. Stiffness, viscoelasticity, deformability, traction, membrane tension, chromatin mechanics, and dynamics influence migration, differentiation, immune activity, tissue remodelling, development, and disease progression.Genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics have expanded biological description, yet physical state remains under-integrated. Mechanomics provides a systems-level framework for measuring, modelling, and interpreting mechanical and dynamical properties. It connects molecular regulation with cell behaviour, tissue architecture, and functional outcomes.Advances in AFM, Brillouin microscopy, microrheology, microfluidics, traction-force microscopy, imaging, organoids, and particle tracking generate mechanical phenotypes. Multiscale mechanistic models, physical inference, digital-twin approaches, and physics-informed machine learning can transform these measurements into predictive, interpretable models of biological organisation.This Research Topic brings together researchers studying how physical properties shape biological state, adaptation, and function. We welcome studies integrating mechanical measurements with molecular, cellular, imaging, or functional data, where they advance translational insight.Themes include, but are not limited to:• Mechanical phenotyping of cells, nuclei, membranes, extracellular matrices, tissues, organoids, and biofilms• AFM, Brillouin microscopy, microrheology, optical methods, microfluidics, and approaches to measure biological physical states• Integration of mechanical data with genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, epigenomic, imaging, or clinical datasets• Cellomics and physiomics approaches that incorporate mechanics as a measurable systems layer• Multiscale models connecting molecular mechanisms, cytoskeletal dynamics, cell mechanics, tissue organisation, and function• Physics-informed machine learning, inverse modelling, digital phenotyping, and computational inference of mechanical states• Mechanical regulation of migration, proliferation, differentiation, immune responses, morphogenesis, ageing, and adaptation• Mechanobiology of cancer, fibrosis, neurological systems, infection, regeneration, and engineered living systems• Translational applications in disease modelling, organoids, tissue engineering, drug response, and biomarker development• Standards, reproducibility, data integration, and interoperable frameworks for mechanical and dynamical biological dataWe welcome Original Research, Methods, Review, Mini Review, and Perspective articles. Topic editors: Francisco Monroy, Sonia Contera, Dulce Oliveira Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85509/mechanomics-in-systems-biology-multiscale-physical-phenotyping-computational-modelling-and-translational-applications