[Mechano-bioscience in heart disease and regenerative medicine.]

Abstract

During cardiac development and maturation, the heart continuously receives hemodynamic stimuli, referred to mechanical stress. Mechanical stress governs both cardiac development and differentiation, and also plays an important role in the maintenance of cardiac homeostasis. Indeed, cardiac hypertrophic changes emerge as a result of adaptation to mechanical overload. However, it is difficult to measure the mechanical stress precisely. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms of hemodynamics-related diseases are minimally understood. The progress in mechanobioscience field has a potential to uncover the mechanisms of cardiac diseases, and is expected to result in drug discovery in the future.