Computational model combined within vitroexperiments to analyse mechanotransduction during mesenchymal stem cell adhesion
1 Institute of Movement Sciences (ISM), Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS UMR 7287, F-13288 Marseille, France
2 Inserm, U957, Laboratory of Physiopathology of Bone Resorption (LPRO), Faculty of Medicine, University of Nantes, France
3 Laboratory of Osteoarticular and Dental Tissue Engineering (LIOAD), Inserm U791, Faculty of Dental Surgery, University of Nantes, France
4 Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (IMN), CNRS UMR6502, University of Nantes, France
Abstract
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 inin vitrostem 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.
Keyword
- Mesenchymal stem cells; cell adhesion; cell morphology; computational cell adhesion model; cytoskeleton; mechanical forces; mechanotransduction
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