Abstract
Articular cartilage consists of hyaline cartilage, is a major constituent of the human musculoskeletal system and has critical functions in frictionless joint movement and articular homoeostasis. Osteoarthritis (OA) is an inflammatory disease of articular cartilage, which promotes joint degeneration. Although it affects millions of people, there are no satisfying therapies that address this disease at the molecular level. Therefore, tissue regeneration approaches aim at modifying chondrocyte biology to mitigate the consequences of OA. This requires appropriate biochemical and biophysical stimulation of cells. Regarding the latter, mechanotransduction of chondrocytes and their precursor cells has become increasingly important over the last few decades. Mechanotransduction is the transformation of external biophysical stimuli into intracellular biochemical signals, involving sensor molecules at the cell surface and intracellular signalling molecules, so-called mechano-sensors and -transducers. These signalling events determine cell behaviour. Mechanotransducing ion channels and gap junctions additionally govern chondrocyte physiology. It is of great scientific and medical interest to induce a specific cell behaviour by controlling these mechanotransduction pathways and to translate this knowledge into regenerative clinical therapies. This review therefore focuses on the mechanotransduction properties of integrins, cadherins and ion channels in cartilaginous tissues to provide perspectives for cartilage regeneration.
Highlights
Introduction about cartilaginous tissues: articular hyaline cartilage and fibrocartilage of the intervertebral discCartilaginous tissues are important constituents of the human musculoskeletal system, because they are indispensable for joint movement, shock absorption and the distribution of compressive loading
Another interesting approach, which addresses both repair of cartilage and the subchondral bone was published by Kang et al This approach is based on a poly(ethylene glycol)-diacrylate and N-acryloyl 6-aminocaproic acid triphasic hydrogel, which underwent covalent cross-linking through radical polymerisation
We were interested in the current scientific evidence for the involvement of major mechanotransduction pathways in cartilage biology and pathophysiology
Summary
Introduction about cartilaginous tissues: articular hyaline cartilage and fibrocartilage of the intervertebral disc. Mechanical stimulation has been used in many experimental studies to induce cartilagespecific mRNA expression, as indicated by the expression of for example, collagen II, aggrecan, Sry-box transcription factor 9 (Sox9) and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (Refs [82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89]) To make these behavioural decisions, cells need to sense and integrate biophysical signals originating from their environment, the latter represented by either the ECM, neighbouring cells or synthetic substrates (Refs [90,91,92,93,94,95]). The section focuses on how to make such materials ‘cell instructive’
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
