The shape that stem cells reach at the end of adhesion process influences their differentiation. Rearrangement of cytoskeleton and modification of intracellular tension may activate mechanotransduction pathways controlling cell commitment. In the present study, the mechanical signals involved in cell adhesion were computed in in vitro stem cells of different shapes using a single cell model, the so-called Cytoskeleton Divided Medium (CDM) model. In the CDM model, the filamentous cytoskeleton and nucleoskeleton networks were represented as a mechanical system of multiple tensile and compressive interactions between the nodes of a divided medium. The results showed that intracellular tonus, focal adhesion forces as well as nuclear deformation increased with cell spreading. The cell model was also implemented to simulate the adhesion process of a cell that spreads on protein-coated substrate by emitting filopodia and creating new distant focal adhesion points. As a result, the cell model predicted cytoskeleton reorganisation and reinforcement during cell spreading. The present model quantitatively computed the evolution of certain elements of mechanotransduction and may be a powerful tool for understanding cell mechanobiology and designing biomaterials with specific surface properties to control cell adhesion and differentiation.
Keywords:Mesenchymal stem cells; cell adhesion; cell morphology; computational cell adhesion model; cytoskeleton; mechanical forces; mechanotransduction.
IntroductionCell adhesion is fundamental in the field of biomaterials. Especially in orthopaedics, it is crucial for prosthesis osseointegration (Lavenus et al., 2010). Osteoblasts need to adhere on the implant to synthesise the bone tissue that is directly connected to it without the intervening soft tissue. Moreover, stem cells, which are recruited to heal the implant interface, adhere on the surface and differentiate depending, among other factors, on their adherent morphology. For instance, stem cells which reach at the end of adhesion round, elongated or branched shapes depending on substrate topography or stiffness, differentiate preferentially into adipocytes, fibroblasts or osteoblasts, respectively (McBeath et al., 2004;Engler et al., 2006). Therefore, biomaterial surface must promote adhesion of stem cells and their differentiation into the desired phenotype so as to synthesise a periprosthetic tissue, ensuring efficient and viable biomaterial integration. Biomaterials that mimic the natural composition of the extracellular matrix have been developed. They are composed of a biological phase or are coated with RGD complex and showed positive effects on cell adhesion (Von der Mark et al., 2010). Topography and surface chemistry, which play a key role in cell adhesion, may be controlled using nanotechnology. This announces the development of new implant surfaces with predictable tissue-integrative properties (Le Guéhennec et al., 2007;Lavenus et al., 2010).Cell adhesion results from the creation of several discrete focal a...