Research.
Every peer-reviewed study on fascia in one place — graded for strength of evidence, summarised in plain language for clinicians, researchers, and curious readers.
We grade studies from A to 1A+++ using the Fascia Research Database rubric — 1A+++ is the strongest.
Researchers behind the studiesExtracellular 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…
Fibroblast spreading induced by connective tissue stretch involves intracellular redistribution of a- and b-actin
Researchers investigated how fibroblasts, the primary cells in connective tissue, respond to mechanical stretching. In this ex vivo study, they stretched samples of subcutaneous tissue for 30 minutes and observed change…
Subcutaneous Tissue Fibroblast Cytoskeletal Remodeling Induced by Acupuncture: Evidence for a Mechanotransduction-Based Mechanism
In this mouse tissue study, researchers investigated how rotating an acupuncture needle affects fibroblasts in the connective tissue under the skin. They found that rotation caused the fibroblasts to actively change sha…
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…
Mechanical control of tissue growth: Function follows form
The full text of this 2005 article has not yet been summarized by our team. The title, "Mechanical control of tissue growth: Function follows form," suggests a focus on how mechanical forces influence the development an…
Dynamic fibroblast cytoskeletal response to subcutaneous tissue stretch ex vivo and in vivo
In this animal study, researchers investigated how fibroblasts, the primary cells in connective tissue, respond to mechanical stretch. By stretching subcutaneous tissue from mice, both in tissue samples (ex vivo) and in…
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…
Integrins in Mechanotransduction
This 2004 review article examines how cells sense and respond to physical forces, a process known as mechanotransduction. The authors focus on integrins, a class of proteins that anchor cells to their surroundings and a…
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…
Tensegrity II. How structural networks influence cellular information processing networks
This theoretical article, the second in a two-part series, explores how a cell's physical structure influences its internal signaling and behavior. It builds on the "tensegrity" model, which describes the cell's skeleto…
Mechanical signaling through connective tissue: a mechanism for the therapeutic effect of acupuncture
This paper proposes a hypothesis for how acupuncture might work. The authors focus on the "de qi" sensation, which includes the acupuncturist feeling a "needle grasp" in the tissue. They suggest that when an acupuncture…
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…