Biophysical Stimuli: A Review of Electrical and Mechanical Stimulation in Hyaline Cartilage

Abstract

Objective Hyaline cartilage degenerative pathologies induce morphologic and biomechanical changes resulting in cartilage tissue damage. In pursuit of therapeutic options, electrical and mechanical stimulation have been proposed for improving tissue engineering approaches for cartilage repair. The purpose of this review was to highlight the effect of electrical stimulation and mechanical stimuli in chondrocyte behavior. Design Different information sources and the MEDLINE database were systematically revised to summarize the different contributions for the past 40 years. Results It has been shown that electric stimulation may increase cell proliferation and stimulate the synthesis of molecules associated with the extracellular matrix of the articular cartilage, such as collagen type II, aggrecan and glycosaminoglycans, while mechanical loads trigger anabolic and catabolic responses in chondrocytes. Conclusion The biophysical stimuli can increase cell proliferation and stimulate molecules associated with hyaline cartilage extracellular matrix maintenance.

Extruded Bioreactor Perfusion Culture Supports the Chondrogenic Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells in 3D Porous Poly(ɛ‐Caprolactone) Scaffolds

“…Integrated CTE approaches have also employed the use of external cues to augment MSC chondrogenic potential. Such signaling cues can be biochemical (e.g., growth factors, TGF‐β superfamily, fibroblast growth factor (FGF)‐2, or small molecules such as kartogenin), environmental (e.g., low oxygen concentrations compared to atmospheric air, hypoxia, to recapitulate the in vivo oxygen tensions of articular cartilage (1% O 2 in the deep zone to 6% O 2 in the superficial zone) as well as of most MSC niches (1–5% O 2 ) or physical factors (e.g., mechanical/electrical stimulation) . In fact, low oxygen tension culture conditions (generally between 3% and 5% O 2 ) have been employed to enhance MSC chondrogenesis in porous CTE scaffolds .…”

Numerical Simulations as Means for Tailoring Electrically Conductive Hydrogels towards Cartilage Tissue Engineering by Electrical Stimulation

“…They could be tried in the future when conducting experiments with electrically conductive hydrogels. A frequency of about MHz could be optimal to verify the hypothesis that an induced change in the TMP causes the biological effect referring to the reported increased ECM synthesis [ 12 , 13 , 14 ], improved re-differentation of de-differentiated cells [ 9 , 10 ], and the enhanced chondrogenic differentiation [ 11 ].…”

“…It stems from a de-differentiation of the cartilage cells, the chondrocytes [ 8 , 9 ]. Electrical stimulation (ES) has been identified as a cue to remedy the de-differentiation of chondrocytes by supporting re-differentiation [ 9 , 10 ] or enhance chondrogenic differentiation of stem cells [ 11 ]. Moreover, ES has been shown to increase ECM synthesis [ 12 , 13 , 14 ].…”

Low Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound and Articular Cartilage Repair

“…However, because the chondrocytic mechanotransducing processes initiated or forged by LIPUS may be time sensitive, research to examine an array of timing parameters and/or possible time frames for optimally modulating favorable LIPUS associated outcomes and avoiding unfavorable ones is strongly recommended. As well, examining the relative impact of other LIPUS stimulation parameters as this affects the sensitivity of the chondrocyte membrane and its receptors in both health and disease may help to shed new light on LIPUS and its potential for fostering desirable repair of cartilage defects, especially Figure 1 Schematic representation of the impact of LIPUS on chondrocyte functions that maybe useful for treating osteoarthritis symptoms, and for regenerative cartilage repair efforts as adapted from [5,11,16,19,21,25,26,29,46,47,50,54,63,64,[66][67][68][69][70] osteoarticular cartilage reparative and protective processes. In addition, efforts to carefully examine the impact of LIPUS on multiple chondrocyte cell membrane signaling pathways, and target genes, especially those not previously examined, is strongly encouraged for further examining treatment mechanisms, as is research to examine the utility of matching the frequency of the driving force of LIPUS to that of the chondrocyte system's natural frequency of vibration as outlined by Miller et al [51,52] , and Louw et al [68] .…”