Mechanosurveillance

Mechanosurveillance is the preferential destruction of mechanically stiffer target cells by cytotoxic lymphocytes. It follows from the mechanics of immune recognition: activating immunoreceptors, including the T cell antigen receptor, certain activating NK receptors, and integrins such as LFA-1, achieve optimal ligand binding and signaling only when placed under tension.

That requirement imposes a physical demand on the target cell, which must be rigid enough to counterbalance the load placed on these receptors and their ligands. Accordingly, stiffer surfaces bearing stimulatory ligands elicit stronger lymphocyte activation than softer surfaces coated with the same proteins, and stiffer cancer cells are the more readily killed.