What is it about?
We discovered that the mechanical stiffness of heart tissue plays a crucial role in shaping how the heart develops and evolves. Using zebrafish and other fish species, we show that differences in tissue elasticity influence cell fate and the formation of cardiac structures, helping explain how new heart designs emerged during evolution. These findings highlight the importance of physical forces in building living organs.
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Photo by Sebastian Pena Lambarri on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This study challenges the gene-centered view of heart development by showing that tissue stiffness itself can guide cell fate and shape cardiac structures. By linking biomechanics to evolutionary innovation, it provides a rare bridge between developmental biology, evolution, and physics, offering a fresh framework for understanding how new organ designs arise.
Perspectives
My research has long focused on how mechanical forces shape living tissues. This study deepened that curiosity by revealing how tissue stiffness can guide heart formation and even contribute to evolutionary novelty. It was striking to see how physical properties, often overlooked, can act as instructive signals in development. I hope this work inspires more cross-disciplinary thinking between biology and physics.
Yuuta Moriyama
Aoyama Gakuin University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Extracellular stiffness regulates cell fate determination and drives the emergence of evolutionary novelty in the teleost heart, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2511871123.
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