Carien M. Niessen1,2, M. Lisa Manning3 and Sara A. Wickström4,5 1Department Cell Biology of the Skin, Cologne Excellence Cluster for Stress Responses in Ageing-Associated Diseases (CECAD), 50931 Cologne, Germany 2Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany 3Department of Physics and BioInspired Institute, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA 4Department of Cell and Tissue Dynamics, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Münster 48145, Germany 5Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00290 Helsinki, Finland Correspondence: carien.niessenuni-koeln.de; sara.wickstrommpi-muenster.mpg.de

How tissue architecture and function emerge during development and what facilitates their resilience and homeostatic dynamics during adulthood is a fundamental question in biology. Biological tissue barriers such as the skin epidermis have evolved strategies that integrate dynamic cellular turnover with high resilience against mechanical and chemical stresses. Interestingly, both dynamic and resilient functions are generated by a defined set of molecular and cell-scale processes, including adhesion and cytoskeletal remodeling, cell shape changes, cell division, and cell movement. These traits are coordinated in space and time with dynamic changes in cell fates and cell mechanics that are generated by contractile and adhesive forces. In this review, we discuss how studies on epidermal morphogenesis and homeostasis have contributed to our understanding of the dynamic interplay between biochemical and mechanical signals during tissue morphogenesis and homeostasis, and how the material properties of tissues dictate how cells respond to these active stresses, thereby linking cell-scale behaviors to tissue- and organismal-scale changes.