“…Such local mechanical stimuli result in mechanotransduction, the conversion of a physical signal into an intracellular biochemical cascade with the potential to alter gene expression, protein activity and ultimately cell function (Jacobs et al, 1998;Silver and Bradica, 2002;Pavalko et al, 2003;Batra et al, 2005;Iqbal and Zaidi, 2005;Epari et al, 2006;Isaksson et al, 2006;Leclerc et al, 2006;Liedert et al, 2006;Meikle, 2006). Loading induced dynamic fluid flow is a key regulatory factor in promoting healthy bone homeostasis (Frost, 1982;Weinbaum et al, 1994;Jacobs et al, 1998;McAllister et al, 2000;Bakker et al, 2001;Batra et al, 2005;Kim et al, 2006;Leclerc et al, 2006;Mehrotra et al, 2006;Tan et al, 2006;Tan et al, 2007). Given that oscillatory fluid flow promotes osteogenic activity in mature cells, it is our hypothesis that it is also a potent regulator of mesenchymal stem-cell differentiation down the osteogenic pathway.…”