Myofascial Release

In Bob’s last post, he stated he was looking for articles on the cell’s function in response to abnormal tensions applied to its membranes….Bob, it’s nice to hear from you.  Thanks for your interest in mechanotransduction. 

It appears that utilizing the gentle sustained pressure of Myofascial Release at a restriction can transmit forces down to the cellular level.  This can create an important cellular response affecting the bio-chemistry and ultimate cellular function and health.

Bob and I have been good friends for over 20 years.  Bob is one of the most experienced Myofascial Release therapists in our country and has a deep understanding of the “new” science that supports the effectiveness of Myofascial Release.

Bob is familiar with much of this, so let me summarize some fascinating information and then suggest some articles on the research that Bob asked for.

The following are excerpts from an article in the Scientific American, January 1998 , “The Architecture of Life” by Donald E. Ingber, who holds a B.A., M.A., M.Phil, M.D., and Ph.D degrees from Yale University and is an associate professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School.

Tensegrity is a phrase coined by the architectural genius Bucksminster Fuller who developed the Geodesic Dome.

• “a form of architecture known as tensegrity.  The term refers to a system that stabilizes itself mechanically because of the way in which tensional and compressive forces are distributed and balanced within the structure”.
• “Tensegrity structures of both categories share one critical feature, which is that tension is continuously transmitted across all structural members.  In other words, an increase in tension in one of the members results in increased tension in members throughout the structure-even ones on the opposite side.  This global increase in tension is balanced by an increase in compression within certain members spaced throughout the structure.”
• “most cells derive their structure not only from the cytoskeleton’s three major types of filaments but also from the extra-cellular matrix-the anchoring scaffolding to which cells are naturally secured in the body.”
• “the existence of a tensegrity force balance provides a means to integrate mechanics and biochemistry at the molecular level.”
• “The tensegrity model suggests that the structure of the cell’s cytoskeleton can be changed by altering the balance of physical forces transmitted across the cell surface.  This finding is important because of the many of the enzymes and other substances that control protein synthesis, energy conversion and growth in the cell are physically immobilized on the cytoskeleton.  For this reason, changing cytoskeletal geometry and mechanics could affect biochemical reactions and even alter the genes that are activated and thus the proteins that are made.”
• “Thus, mechanical restructuring of the cell and cytoskeleton apparently tell the cell what to do.”
• “We found that when we increased the stress applied to integrins (molecules that go through the cell’s membrane and link the extracellular matrix to the internal cytoskeleton), the cells responded by becoming stiffer and stiffer-just as whole tissues do.  Furthermore, living cells could be made stiff or flexible by varying the prestress in the cytoskeleton by changing, for example, the tension in contractile microfilaments.”
• “A Universal Pattern, The geodesic structure found within the cytoskeleton is a classic example of a pattern that is found everywhere in nature, at many different size scales.”
• “Because a local force can change the shape of an entire tensegrity structure, the binding of a molecule to a protein can cause the different, stiffened helical regions to rearrange their relative positions throughout the length of the protein.”

Further Reading

ON GROWTH and FORM. Revised edition. D’Arcy W. Thompson. Cambridge University Press, 1942 (reprinted 1992).

MOVEMENT AND SELF-CONTROL IN PROTEIN ASSEMBLIES. Donald L.D.Casper in Biophysical Journal,Vol. 32, No. 1, pages 103-138; October 1980.

CELLULAR TENSEGRITY:DEFINING NEW RULES OF BIOLOGICAL DESIGN THAT GOVERN THE CYTOSKELETON. Donald E. Ingber in Journal of Cell Science, Vol. 104, No. 3, pages 613-627; March 1993.

MECHANOTRANSDUCTION ACROSS THE CELL SURFACE AND THROUGH THE CYTOSKELETON. Ning Wang, James P. Butler and Donald E. Ingber in Science, Vol. 260, pages 1124-1127; May 21, 1993.

GEOMETRIC CONTROL OF CELL LIFE AND DEATH. Christopher S. Chen, Milan Mrksich, Sui Huang, George M. Whitesides and Donald E. Ingber in Science, Vol. 276, pages 1425-1428; May 30, 1997.

TENSEGRITY: THE ARCHITECTURAL BASIS OF CELLULAR MECHANOTRANSDUCTION. Donald E. Ingber in Annual Review of Physiology, Vol. 59, pages 575-599; 1997.

There is much more.  I hope this helps.

John

John F. Barnes, P.T., LMT, NCTMB