ArticleNature materials2014
Mechanical memory and dosing influence stem cell fate.
Article in Nature materials, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 560 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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
560 citing papers in PubMed, 1,141 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mechanical regulation of cell memory.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2026Review
- Dynamic control of cell state transitions during tissue morphogenesis.The EMBO journal · 2026Review
- Mechanobiology of orofacial tissues: principles, mechanisms, and therapeutic applications.International journal of oral science · 2026Review
- Environmentally induced cell stiffening shapes metastatic site selection by tuning the immune vulnerability of cancer cells.Immunity · 2026Article
- Hydrogels: current biomedical applications and future directions.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- Rational design of immunological programs for functional regenerative niches.Materials today. Bio · 2026Review
- Mechanical Intelligence in Bone Regeneration: Bridging Material and Cellular Memory for Enhanced Healing.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Fibrillar adhesion dynamics govern the timescales of nuclear mechano-response via the vimentin cytoskeleton.Nature materials · 2026Article
- A Circuit of Mechanically Regulated Transcription Factors Balances Regenerative and Fibrotic Memory of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- RUNX1 is a mediator of fibrotic activation and epigenetic memory in lung fibroblasts.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2026Article
- Beyond Potency: Emerging Determinants and Optimization Strategies Enhancing Therapeutic Efficacy of Adult Stem Cells.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- From force to fate: Implications of mechanomemory in lung disease.Respiratory research · 2026Review
- Programmable Microcarriers for Stem Cell Therapy: Advanced Fabrication Strategies, Stem Cell Fate Regulatory Function and Biomedical Applications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Decoupling Mechanical Confinement and Fibrotic Extracellular Matrix Signaling in Vestibular Schwannoma Using Tunable 3D Hydrogels.Cellular and molecular bioengineering · 2026Article
- Sono-Mechanogenetics: Linking Ultrasound Physics With Cellular Mechanobiology.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Matrix Viscoelasticity Regulates Dendritic Cell Migration and Immune Priming.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- ECM-Stiffness Mediated Persistent Fibroblast Activation Requires Integrin and Formin Dependent Chromatin Remodeling.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Mechanical licensing of functional dendritic cell states for enhanced T cell priming.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A comprehensive landscape of mechanical stress-mediated lipid metabolism in human cavernous fibroblasts.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Timing Mechanotransduction: Mechanically Dynamic Biomaterials Reveal the Temporal Hierarchy of YAP/TAZ Control Nodes.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
500 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 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
We investigated whether stem cells remember past physical signals and whether these can be exploited to dose cells mechanically. We found that the activation of the Yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding domain (TAZ) as well as the pre-osteogenic transcription factor RUNX2 in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) cultured on soft poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels (Young's modulus E ~ 2 kPa) depended on previous culture time on stiff tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS; E ~ 3 GPa). In addition, mechanical dosing of hMSCs cultured on initially stiff (E ~ 10 kPa) and then soft (E ~ 2 kPa) phototunable PEG hydrogels resulted in either reversible or--above a threshold mechanical dose--irreversible activation of YAP/TAZ and RUNX2. We also found that increased mechanical dosing on supraphysiologically stiff TCPS biases hMSCs towards osteogenic differentiation. We conclude that stem cells possess mechanical memory--with YAP/TAZ acting as an intracellular mechanical rheostat--that stores information from past physical environments and influences the cells' fate.
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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.