ArticleNature materials2017
MicroRNA-21 preserves the fibrotic mechanical memory of mesenchymal stem cells.
Article in Nature materials, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 209 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
209 citing papers in PubMed, 321 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mechanically preconditioned stem cells therapy using bioinspired liver-mimetic microspheres for functional liver repair.Bioactive materials · 2026Article
- Mechanical regulation of cell memory.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2026Review
- Cytoskeletal-nuclear control of alveolar fibroblast identity directs lung regeneration.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Mechanical Intelligence in Bone Regeneration: Bridging Material and Cellular Memory for Enhanced Healing.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- RUNX1 is a mediator of fibrotic activation and epigenetic memory in lung fibroblasts.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2026Article
- A Circuit of Mechanically Regulated Transcription Factors Balances Regenerative and Fibrotic Memory of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Fibrillar adhesion dynamics govern the timescales of nuclear mechano-response via the vimentin cytoskeleton.Nature materials · 2026Article
- 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
- ECM-Stiffness Mediated Persistent Fibroblast Activation Requires Integrin and Formin Dependent Chromatin Remodeling.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Cardiac mechanotransduction from development to disease.APL bioengineering · 2026Review
- Matrix Viscoelasticity Regulates Dendritic Cell Migration and Immune Priming.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- Mechanically Soft Phase-Separated Gelatin/Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels Support Long-Term Expansion of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells While Preserving Multipotency.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Mechanical gating of tendon fibrogenic transcription in systemic sclerosis.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Mechanobiological research fueling the advancement of mechanotherapy and mechanohealth.Mechanobiology in medicine · 2026Article
- Cytoskeletal prestress homeostasis is a biological principle that governs living cell structure and function.Mechanobiology in medicine · 2026Review
- A Comprehensive Review of Nuclear Mechanics: Advances, Disease Relevance, Methodologies, and AI Applications.Cell biochemistry and biophysics · 2026Review
- Bioreactor expansion of human neural progenitor cells for exosome scalable production and miRNA-engineering.Journal of biological engineering · 2026Article
- Mechanical regulation of metabolism, epigenetics, and their interplay.npj biomedical innovations · 2026Review
- Special Issue "Mesenchymal Stromal and Immune Cells' Involvement in Human Diseases and Their Treatment".International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
149 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Expansion on stiff culture substrates activates pro-fibrotic cell programs that are retained by mechanical memory. Here, we show that priming on physiologically soft silicone substrates suppresses fibrogenesis and desensitizes mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) against subsequent mechanical activation in vitro and in vivo, and identify the microRNA miR-21 as a long-term memory keeper of the fibrogenic program in MSCs. During stiff priming, miR-21 levels were gradually increased by continued regulation through the acutely mechanosensitive myocardin-related transcription factor-A (MRTF-A/MLK-1) and remained high over 2 weeks after removal of the mechanical stimulus. Knocking down miR-21 once by the end of the stiff-priming period was sufficient to erase the mechanical memory and sensitize MSCs to subsequent exposure to soft substrates. Soft priming and erasing mechanical memory following cell culture expansion protects MSCs from fibrogenesis in the host wound environment and increases the chances for success of MSC therapy in tissue-repair applications.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.