ArticleStem cells (Dayton, Ohio)2011
Rho GTPases mediate the mechanosensitive lineage commitment of neural stem cells.
Article in Stem cells (Dayton, Ohio), 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 116 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
116 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.
- Stretch-activated ion channel Piezo1 directs lineage choice in human neural stem cells.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2014Trial
- Exercise mimetics: molecular mechanisms, biological and therapeutic effects.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- Age-mimicking hydrogel stiffness recapitulates the mechanical niche of the hippocampus to regulate neural stem cell senescence.Materials today. Bio · 2026Article
- Engineering Brain Injury In Vitro: Human iPSC-Based Organoids in Microfluidic Systems.Applied sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Neuromechanobiology: Bridging Mechanobiology and Neuroscience Through Evidence and Open Questions.Cells · 2026Review
- Mechanical Environment Afforded by Engineered Hydrogel Critically Regulates Survival of Neural Stem Cells Transplanted in the Injured Spinal Cord via Piezo1-Mediated Mechanotransduction.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Interaction between m6A and YAP1 mechanotransduction pathways is essential for mechanical memory and matrix remodeling in pancreatic cancer.International journal of biological sciences · 2026Article
- Mechanobiology of hippocampal neurogenesis: directing neural stem cell fate through physical cues.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2026Review
- The hippocampal subgranular zone neurogenic niche: a modular perspective on neural stem cell regulation.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2026Review
- Article
- Ultrasound-Responsive Polymeric Piezoelectric Nanoparticles for Remote Activation and Neuronal Differentiation of Human Neural Stem Cells.Small science · 2025Article
- Neurorehabilitation and white matter repair in traumatic spinal cord injury: a dialogue between clinical and preclinical studies.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Review
- Viscoelastic High-Molecular-Weight Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels Support Rapid Glioblastoma Cell Invasion with Leader-Follower Dynamics.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2024Article
- Leveraging Deep Learning and Generative AI for Predicting Rheological Properties and Material Compositions of 3D Printed Polyacrylamide Hydrogels.Gels (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Spectrin mediates 3D-specific matrix stress-relaxation response in neural stem cell lineage commitment.Science advances · 2024Article
- Substrate stress relaxation regulates neural stem cell fate commitment.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Design of neural organoids engineered by mechanical forces.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2024Review
- Viscoelastic high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid hydrogels support rapid glioblastoma cell invasion with leader-follower dynamics.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Neurogenic Cell Behavior in 3D Culture Enhanced Within a Highly Compliant Synthetic Hydrogel Platform Formed via Competitive Crosslinking.Cellular and molecular bioengineering · 2024Article
- The mechanics of the retina: Müller glia role on retinal extracellular matrix and modelling.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Review
56 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Adult neural stem cells (NSCs) play important roles in learning and memory and are negatively impacted by neurological disease. It is known that biochemical and genetic factors regulate self-renewal and differentiation, and it has recently been suggested that mechanical and solid-state cues, such as extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness, can also regulate the functions of NSCs and other stem cell types. However, relatively little is known of the molecular mechanisms through which stem cells transduce mechanical inputs into fate decisions, the extent to which mechanical inputs instruct fate decisions versus select for or against lineage-committed blast populations, or the in vivo relevance of mechanotransductive signaling molecules in native stem cell niches. Here we demonstrate that ECM-derived mechanical signals act through Rho GTPases to activate the cellular contractility machinery in a key early window during differentiation to regulate NSC lineage commitment. Furthermore, culturing NSCs on increasingly stiff ECMs enhances RhoA and Cdc42 activation, increases NSC stiffness, and suppresses neurogenesis. Likewise, inhibiting RhoA and Cdc42 or downstream regulators of cellular contractility rescues NSCs from stiff matrix- and Rho GTPase-induced neurosuppression. Importantly, Rho GTPase expression and ECM stiffness do not alter proliferation or apoptosis rates indicating that an instructive rather than selective mechanism modulates lineage distributions. Finally, in the adult brain, RhoA activation in hippocampal progenitors suppresses neurogenesis, analogous to its effect in vitro. These results establish Rho GTPase-based mechanotransduction and cellular stiffness as biophysical regulators of NSC fate in vitro and RhoA as an important regulatory protein in the hippocampal stem cell niche.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.