Mechanotransduction through substrates engineering and microfluidic devices

•Mechanotransduction: translation of biomechanical cues into biochemical stimuli.•Cells sense, integrate and adapt to their surroundings through mechanotransduction.•Mechanotransduction impairments can contribute to diseases.•Substrates and microfluidic, keys to study underlying mechano-associated processes.•Microengineering essential for studying dynamic cell–microenvironment interactions.

Living cells are able to sense three-dimensional environmental properties, to integrate biophysical and biochemical stimulations and to adapt to dynamic changes of their physical surroundings for maintaining appropriate biological functions. Mechanotransduction — the mechanism by which a mechanical stimulation is transduced into a chemical signal — typically involves force-induced conformational changes in proteins or altered affinities to their binding partners but these interactions remain largely unexplored. New development in microengineering offers unique capabilities for in vitro controlling and perturbing both the biochemical and biomechanical cellular microenvironment. Here, we focus on studies and discoveries that — through innovative microtechnology — dissected and reconstructed biochemical and biophysical mechanisms underlying mechano-associated biological processes. These microengineered platforms provide endless possibilities for new insights into the role of mechanotransduction in physiology and pathophysiology of human tissues and organs, including tumorigenesis and metastasis.