Metabolic responses induced by compression of chondrocytes in variable-stiffness microenvironments.

ABSTRACT: Cells sense and respond to mechanical loads in a process called mechanotransduction. These processes are disrupted in the chondrocytes of cartilage during joint disease. A key driver of cellular mechanotransduction is the stiffness of the surrounding matrix. Many cells are surrounded by extracellular matrix that allows for tissue mechanical function. Although prior studies demonstrate that extracellular stiffness is important in cell differentiation, morphology and phenotype, it remains largely unknown how a cell's biological response to cyclical loading varies with changes in surrounding substrate stiffness. Understanding these processes is important for understanding cells that are cyclically loaded during daily in vivo activities (e.g. chondrocytes and walking). This study uses high-per

SUBMITTER: McCutchen CN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5694357 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature