# Synthetic aptamer mechanoreceptors enable cell-specific force sensing and temporal control via DNA circuits

## TL;DR

Scientists created DNA-based sensors that can detect mechanical forces in specific cells and control their behavior over time.

## Contribution

The novel contribution is an all-DNA mechanosensing platform using aptamers for cell-specific and programmable force sensing.

## Key findings

- Aptamer-based mechanoprobes enable cell-type-specific force transduction through noncanonical receptors.
- Integration with DNA reaction networks allows reversible and temporally controlled mechanoresponses.
- The system provides a modular framework for tunable mechanotransduction circuits in synthetic biology.

## Abstract

Cells interpret mechanical cues from their microenvironment with spatiotemporal precision to guide adaptive behaviors. However, engineering synthetic mechanosensing systems with both cell-specificity and programmability remains challenging, especially when targeting ubiquitous classical mechanoreceptors. Here, we introduce an all-DNA mechanosensing platform based on aptamers that transmit force through noncanonical surface receptors. Aptamer–receptor recognition acts as a molecular gate for force transduction, enabling the design of mechanoprobes with cell-type selectivity. These probes interpret diverse mechanical inputs via distinct mechanisms, including actomyosin-driven contractility and membrane ruffling during macropinocytosis. By integrating aptamer mechanoprobes with upstream DNA reaction networks, we achieve reversible and temporally programmable mechanoresponses. This modular, all-nucleic-acid system offers a general framework for constructing tunable mechanotransduction circuits. It expands the design space for synthetic mechanobiology and provides opportunities for autonomous, multi-layered mechanical–biochemical regulation in tissue engineering, morphogenesis, and dynamic cell programming.

Engineering synthetic mechanosensing systems with both cell-specificity and programmability remains challenging, especially for classical mechanoreceptors. Here, the authors develop an all-DNA mechanosensing platform based on aptamers that transmit force through noncanonical surface receptors.