An Attempt to Predict the Preferential Cellular Orientation in Any Complex Mechanical Environment.

Cédric Laurent,Rachid Rahouadj,Jean-François Ganghoffer

doi:10.3390/bioengineering4010016

Abstract

Cells respond to their mechanical environment in different ways: while their response in terms of differentiation and proliferation has been widely studied, the question of the direction in which cells align when subject to a complex mechanical loading in a 3D environment is still widely open. In the present paper, we formulate the hypothesis that the cells orientate in the direction of unitary stretch computed from the right Cauchy-Green tensor in a given mechanical environment. The implications of this hypothesis are studied in different simple cases corresponding to either the available in vitro experimental data or physiological conditions, starting from finite element analysis results to computed preferential cellular orientation. The present contribution is a first step to the formulation of a deeper understanding of the orientation of cells within or at the surface of any 3D scaffold subject to any complex load. It is believed that these initial preferential directions have strong implications as far as the anisotropy of biological structures is concerned.

Highlights

Tissue engineering and cell-based therapies constitute a promising alternative to current therapies in the repair of numerous biological tissues
It is well known that stem cells respond to their mechanical environment in different ways: cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration depend on substrate properties and external loading
We firstly present how the direction of unitary stretch in a given mechanical environment may be computed from the results of finite element (FE) analysis

Summary

Introduction

Tissue engineering and cell-based therapies constitute a promising alternative to current therapies in the repair of numerous biological tissues. The biochemical mechanotransduction principles underlying these reactions have been largely studied over the last decade (for recent reviews, see [3,4,5]). Another outstanding characteristic of adherent cells’ response to external mechanical load is their ability to reorient along a particular angle when the substrate is subject to cyclical stretching. This specificity may play a crucial role in the formation of the most efficient functional configuration during tissue development via the production of an anisotropic collagen network [6]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion