Blood is a force-rich system. Beyond biochemistry, blood cells continually sense shear, stretch, and substrate rigidity, encode these inputs into biochemical and structural state changes, and adjust future behavior. We term this mechanical intelligence: an operational framework encompassing mechanosense, learning and memory, decision-making, and adaptive evolution. We synthesize evidence across red blood cells (RBCs), leukocytes, and platelets showing how mechanosensitive receptors (Piezo-type mechanosensitive ion channel component 1, glycoprotein Ib-IX-V complex, and integrins), cytoskeletal feedback, and nuclear effectors (Yes-associated protein/transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif and nuclear factor κB) couple mechanical cues to cellular states and functions (oxygen delivery, immune surveillance, and hemostasis). Repeated mechanical exposures produce mechanical memory (e.g., RBC fatigue and shape memory, shear-primed platelet hyperreactivity, and stiffness-modulated leukocyte transmigration) that improves performance in physiological contexts but contributes to pathology when dysregulated (vaso-occlusion, thrombosis, and inflammaging). We outline mechanodiagnostics (single-cell deformability cytometry, atomic force microscopy, and microfluidic thrombus profiling) and mechanotherapy (ion channel modulators, engineering cells, and mechanocompatible devices) and propose reporting standards, readiness levels, and validation pathways.
Wang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.