Investigation of the Effect of Mechanical Strain on the Osteogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Abstract

The engineering of functional bone constructs ex vivo is a rapidly growing branch in the field of tissue engineering. Bone constructs generally comprise cells and a scaffold providing a supportive framework for the cells to grow as well as mechanical stability. Furthermore, mechanical stimulation has become a substantial tool in functional tissue engineering.

Mesenchymal stem cells are a widely used cell source in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. In this work, the applicability of adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (adMSCs) for bone tissue engineering has been investigated using different scaffold materials with regard to viability and osteogenic differentiation. Since mechanical strain is known to enhance osteogenic differentiation, adMSCs were subjected to a cyclic strain with the fixed parameters of 5% elongation and the frequency of 1 Hz. Strain schemes of 15 min, 60 min and 2 h as well as repeated strain were applied and cell viability as well as bone marker expression were investigated. Moreover, a flexible microelectrode culture dish for electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) was developed in order to determine morphological changes of cells due to the applied load.