Abstract: Mechanical forces shape the development, function, and survival of every cell within the central nervous system (CNS) but are particularly important for astroglia, a subtype of glial cell that mediates communication between neurons and blood vessels. Astrocytes utilize changes in intracellular concentration of the 2nd messenger calcium [Ca2+]i to integrate local electrical, chemical, and mechanical microenvironments, with Ca2+-dependent release of gliotransmitters and cytokines implicated in the regulation of neurovascular coupling, short- and long-term synaptic plasticity, and neuronal excitability. These functions may be perturbed by age, tissue swelling (edema), ischemia, physical trauma, and chronic elevations in intraocular or intracranial pressure, to produce a reactive response that manifests as increases in hypertrophy, cell proliferation, and proinflammatory signaling. Astroglial activation by acute and chronic mechanical trauma compromises the integrity of blood-CNS barriers and neuronal function yet information about molecular sensors that transduce mechanical forces into astroglial [Ca2+]i is surprisingly sparse. We know that large tissue deformations that activate astroglia and injure CNS induce [Ca2+]i 
elevations (Rzigalinski et al., 1998; Lindqvist et al., 2010) but it is not known whether the cells are capable of responding to physiological deformations of the extracellular matrix (< 5% strain) and what such force transducers might be.