Research.
Every peer-reviewed study on fascia in one place — graded for strength of evidence, summarised in plain language for clinicians, researchers, and curious patients.
We grade studies from A to 1A+++ using the Fascia Research Database rubric — 1A+++ is the strongest.
Feeling Things Out: Bidirectional Signaling of the Cell–ECM Interface, Implications in the Mechanobiology of Cell Spreading, Migration, Proliferation, and Differentiation
This narrative review describes how cells and their surrounding environment, the extracellular matrix (ECM), constantly communicate with each other. This communication involves physical cues from the ECM being translate…
Modes of cancer cell invasion and the role of the microenvironment
For cancer to spread, or metastasize, tumor cells must first invade the surrounding connective tissue (stroma). This review article describes how cancer cells can move in different ways—either as single cells or in coll…
Remodelling the extracellular matrix in development and disease
This narrative review describes the extracellular matrix (ECM), a dynamic network present in all body tissues that undergoes constant remodeling. This remodeling process is crucial for regulating cell functions like pro…
Biotensegrity of the extracellular matrix: physiology, dynamic mechanical balance, and implications in oncology and mechanotherapy
This 2014 review article explores the concept of biotensegrity, a principle where cells and tissues maintain structural integrity through a balance of tension and compression. This dynamic mechanical balance involves th…
A decorin-deficient matrix affects skin chondroitin/dermatan sulfate levels and keratinocyte function
This study in mice investigated how the absence of a proteoglycan called decorin affects skin structure and function. Researchers found that mice lacking decorin had an altered composition of other sugar molecules (chon…
Mechanotransduction and extracellular matrix homeostasis
Connective tissues are dynamic, constantly adapting even at rest. Cells within these tissues continually sense mechanical cues from their environment through a process called mechanotransduction. In response, they maint…
Fascia Research Congress Evidence from the 100 year perspective of Andrew Taylor Still
This review paper examines research from the first three International Fascia Research Congresses through the perspective of Andrew Taylor Still, the founder of osteopathic medicine. Over a century ago, Still described…
Molecular assembly and mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix: A fibrous protein perspective
This review article examines the extracellular matrix (ECM), the dynamic network of molecules surrounding our cells. The authors focus on fibrous proteins like collagen and elastin, which form the structural backbone of…
A RHAMM Mimetic Peptide Blocks Hyaluronan Signaling and Reduces Inflammation and Fibrogenesis in Excisional Skin Wounds
In this animal study, researchers investigated how to reduce scarring during skin wound healing. They developed a peptide, P15-1, designed to interfere with signals from fragmented hyaluronan, a molecule involved in inf…
CTGF is a central mediator of tissue remodeling and fibrosis and its inhibition can reverse the process of fibrosis
Fibrosis is a process of excessive connective tissue formation, leading to scarring and stiffness in organs. A protein called Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CTGF) plays a central role in driving this process. This res…
ExtracellularMatrix Degradation and Remodeling in Development and Disease
In this review, the authors describe the extracellular matrix (ECM) as a dynamic structure that is constantly being remodeled. This process of breakdown and rebuilding is essential for normal bodily functions like tissu…
Hyaluronan in intestinal homeostasis and inflammation: implications for fibrosis
This narrative review explores the role of hyaluronan (HA) in intestinal health and disease. Chronic intestinal inflammation can lead to fibrosis, or scarring, a process driven by inflammatory signals and specialized ce…
Remodeling and homeostasis of the extracellular matrix: implications for fibrotic diseases and cancer
In this perspective article, the authors discuss how the extracellular matrix (ECM) is constantly being remodeled, a process essential for normal bodily functions like wound healing and tissue maintenance. When this rem…
From mechanotransduction to extracellular matrix gene expression in fibroblasts
This 2009 review article explores how connective tissue cells, or fibroblasts, sense and respond to mechanical forces from their environment. Cells attach to the surrounding extracellular matrix via adhesion contacts, w…
Mechanotransduction at a distance: mechanically coupling the extracellular matrix with the nucleus
In this narrative review, the authors explore how mechanical forces can influence the cell nucleus from a distance. Research has often focused on how external forces are converted into chemical signals at the cell's sur…
Tensegrity-Based Mechanosensing from Macro to Micro
This review article, based on a lecture, explores how cells convert mechanical signals into biochemical responses. The author proposes that the body uses "tensegrity" (tensional integrity) principles, where interconnect…
Differential effects of hyaluronan and its fragments on fibroblasts: Relation to wound healing
This lab study investigated how hyaluronan (HA) of different molecular sizes affects human fibroblast cells, which are key to wound healing. Researchers exposed fibroblasts to native HA and two smaller fragments. All th…
Can cancer be reversed by engineering the tumor microenvironment?
In this perspective article, the author proposes a different way of looking at cancer. Instead of focusing solely on genetic mutations, he argues that the physical environment around a tumor, particularly the extracellu…
Extracellular matrix, mechanotransduction and structural hierarchies in heart tissue engineering
This narrative review explores the challenges of engineering artificial heart tissue. The heart functions across vast scales of time and space, from tiny ion channels to the whole organ's pumping action. The authors sug…
Formation and Function of the Myofibroblast during Tissue Repair
Myofibroblasts are specialized cells that play a key role in wound healing and tissue repair. Formed from fibroblasts, their primary function is to contract, which helps pull the edges of a wound together. While this is…
Migration of tumor cells in 3D matrices is governed by matrix stiffness along with cell-matrix adhesion and proteolysis
This study investigated how tumor cells move in a three-dimensional environment similar to body tissues. Researchers found that in addition to the cell's ability to adhere to and pull on its surroundings, the stiffness…
Mechanisms of Mechanotransduction
This review describes mechanotransduction, the process by which cells sense and respond to physical forces. The researchers explain that nearly all living organisms, from bacteria to humans, are sensitive to mechanical…
Cell tension, matrix mechanics, and cancer development
Doctors can often diagnose cancer by feeling for tissue stiffness, and this study explores how this mechanical property contributes to cancer development. The researchers suggest that the stiff extracellular matrix in t…
Mechanobiology and diseases of mechanotransduction
This 2003 article argues that medicine often overlooks the physical and mechanical aspects of disease, focusing instead on genetics. The author reviews how physical forces and the extracellular matrix are vital for norm…
New and active role of the interstitium in control of interstitial fluid pressure: potential therapeutic consequences
This review challenges the traditional view of the interstitium as merely a passive fluid reservoir. The researchers present data suggesting that connective tissue cells and the extracellular matrix actively regulate in…
Tensegrity and mechanoregulation: from skeleton to cytoskeleton
This review article explores how mechanical forces are transmitted from the whole body down to individual cells. The authors propose that a design principle called "tensegrity," which uses continuous tension and local c…
Tensegrity: The Architectural Basis of Cellular Mechanotransduction
This 1997 review article proposes a model for how cells sense and respond to physical forces, a process called mechanotransduction. The author suggests that cells are built using 'tensegrity' architecture, a system of b…
Endothelial Growth Factors and Extracellular Matrix Regulate Dna Synthesis Through Modulation of Cell and Nuclear Expansion
This study investigated how the extracellular matrix (ECM) and growth factors work together to regulate the growth of capillary endothelial cells, which line blood vessels. Researchers found that these cells needed both…