ArticleJournal of cell science2021
Natural killer cell immune synapse formation and cytotoxicity are controlled by tension of the target interface.
Article in Journal of cell science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 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
38 citing papers in PubMed, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Harnessing Natural Killer Cells: From Neuroimmunology to Novel Therapies for Central Nervous System Diseases.MedComm · 2026Review
- Cofilin1-driven cytoskeletal remodeling modulates pan-cancer CD8Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Article
- Antibody Fc receptor CD16a mediates natural killer cell activation via mechanotransduction of piconewton forces.Science advances · 2026Article
- Ionic regulation of cancer cell stiffness and metastatic colonization via the MRTFA-KCNMB1 axis.Developmental cell · 2026Article
- Sono-Mechanogenetics: Linking Ultrasound Physics With Cellular Mechanobiology.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- RASA2 deletion rescues immune synapse dysfunction, enhancing CAR T cell efficacy against DMGs.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2026Article
- Mechanical communication and function regulation of immune cells.Fundamental research · 2026Review
- Antibody Fc receptor CD16a mediates natural killer cell activation via mechanotransduction of piconewton forces.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Ionic Regulation of Mechanosurveillance and Metastasis via the MRTFA/KCNMB1 Axis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Mechanotransduction in Shaping Immunity: Pathways, Crosstalk, and Pathophysiological Relevance.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Review
- Mechanoregulation of lymphocyte cytotoxicity.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2025Review
- Cancer cells suppress NK cell activity by actin-driven polarization of inhibitory ligands to the immunological synapse.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Immunological synapse: structures, molecular mechanisms and therapeutic implications in disease.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025Review
- Targeting cancer cell stiffness and metastasis with clinical therapeutics.Clinical & experimental metastasis · 2025Review
- Biomechanics in the tumor microenvironment: from biological functions to potential clinical applications.Experimental hematology & oncology · 2025Review
- Review
- Tumor cells escape immunosurveillance by hampering LFA-1.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Research progress on the role of biomechanical clues in the progression of lung cancer.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
- NK cell activity in the tumor microenvironment.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
- ADCC: the rock band led by therapeutic antibodies, tumor and immune cells.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells can kill infected or transformed cells via a lytic immune synapse. Diseased cells may exhibit altered mechanical properties but how this impacts NK cell responsiveness is unknown. We report that human NK cells were stimulated more effectively to secrete granzymes A and B, FasL (also known as FasLG), granulysin and IFNγ, by stiff (142 kPa) compared to soft (1 kPa) planar substrates. To create surrogate spherical targets of defined stiffness, sodium alginate was used to synthesise soft (9 kPa), medium (34 kPa) or stiff (254 kPa) cell-sized beads, coated with antibodies against activating receptor NKp30 (also known as NCR3) and the integrin LFA-1 (also known as ITGAL). Against stiff beads, NK cells showed increased degranulation. Polarisation of the microtubule-organising centre and lytic granules were impaired against soft targets, which instead resulted in the formation of unstable kinapses. Thus, by varying target stiffness to characterise the mechanosensitivity of immune synapses, we identify soft targets as a blind spot in NK cell recognition. This article has an associated First Person interview with the co-first authors of the paper.
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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.