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

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.