Influence of mechanical force application on human mesenchymal stem cell differentiation

A type of cell called a mesenchymal stem cell exists in human bone marrow. These special cells have the capability to grow into many different types of other cells such as bone cells, cartilage cells and muscle cells. In order to do this, these cells need certain types of stimuli. One of these types of stimuli is mechanical force. Very little is known about how mechanical forces affect mesenchymal stem cells. This project aims to analyse in detail, the effects of three different types of mechanical force on these cells over time periods of ten minutes to two weeks. Different types of mechanical forces (such as fluid flowing over a cell or stretching a cell by growing it on a plastic membrane and then pulling the membrane) causes the cell to react and adapt differently to their environment. This project will identify how these cells react to each type and length of force application and ultimately what type of cell it will then be destined to grow into as a result of the force.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC's) have the capability to develop into many different lineages. It has been well documented that mechanical forces have great influence on cell activity, including these progenitor cells. However, there is limited knowledge about the mechanism of how mechanical forces affect MSC's. There is also very little known about the type of force applied, the duration of the force application on MSC differentiation. This project aims to analyse in detail, the effects of three different types of mechanical force (shear stress, tensile strain and a translational stretch applied directly to cell membrane using magnetic particles) on these cells in the short term (ten minutes to 24 hours) and the long term (two weeks of daily mechanical force application). This project will analyse the gene expression of MSC's grown in monolayer in response to each type and length of force application using microarray and real-time PCR techniques. The ultimate differentiation of the MSC's will be able to be identified as a result of the different types of force application.