Open Access

ARTICLE

Mechanical Stretch-Induced Changes in Cell Morphology and mRNA Expression of Tendon/Ligament-Associated Genes in Rat Bone-Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells

by

∗ Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, People’s Republic of China.
† Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan.
‡ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 23 6510 2507, Fax: +86 23 6510 6062, E-mail: song@cqu.edu.cn

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics 2010, 7(3), 165-174. https://doi.org/10.3970/mcb.2010.007.165

Abstract

It has been demonstrated that mechanical stimulation plays a vital role in regulating the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells. However, little is known about the effects of mechanical stress on tendon/ligament development from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Here, using a custom-made cell-stretching device, we studied the effects of mechanical stretching on the cell morphology and mRNA expression of several key genes modulating tendon/ligament genesis. We demonstrate that bone-marrow-derived rat MSCs (rMSCs), when subjected to cyclic uniaxial stretching, express obvious detectable mRNAs for tenascin C and scleraxis, a unique maker of tendon/ligament formation, and significantly increased levels of type I collagen and type III collagen mRNAs. The stretched cells also orient at approximately~65 with respect to the stretching direction and exhibit a more fibroblast-like morphology. Collectively, these results indicate that mechanical stretching facilitates the directed differentiation of rMSCs into tendon/ligament fibroblasts, which has potential implications for the tissue engineering of bioartificial tendons and ligaments.

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