Magneto-mechanics in mechanobiology: enabling remote force transmission to cells and extracellular matrix.

Abstract

Mechanobiology explores how cells sense, transmit, and respond to mechanical forces, with the extracellular matrix (ECM) serving as a dynamic interface that governs cellular behavior through stiffness, viscoelasticity, poroelasticity, and topographical cues. Traditional techniques for force application, such as atomic force microscopy, micropipette aspiration, and optical tweezers, have provided foundational insights but are often limited in dimensionality, invasiveness, and capacity to mimic native, time-evolving microenvironments. Magneto-mechanical actuation offers a transformative alternative by enabling remote, reversible, and spatially programmable force delivery to cells and tissues via particle-based, substrate-based, or microrobotic platforms. This review examines ECM structure-function relationships, cellular mechanotransduction via the cytoskeleton and mechanosensitive ion channels, as well as the capabilities and constraints of existing mechanical probing tools. Magneto-mechanical modalities, design considerations, calibration strategies, and integration with real-time biological readouts are then detailed, highlighting their potential to reproduce complex, dynamic mechanical cues relevant to development, disease, and regeneration. Finally, current technical and biological challenges are discussed, proposing bioinspired actuation schemes for temporal mechanical conditioning, and envisioning multiphysics integration as a path toward next-generation mechanomedicine.