Stem cells’ research reached an advanced stage with clear understanding of
the ability of multipotent mesenchymal stem cells to maturate to different metabolically
mature cells of the connective tissue. In combination with advancement in genetic
research it is now possible to start decoding basic cellular mechanotransduction
pathways in stem cells. This novel research field has the potential to lead to the
discovery of new and important niche in the biomedicine with a prospective of reaching
important clinical advancements. Although important research success has been reached
recently the exact mechanisms of the MSC’s determination of the fate are still elusive
and require further extensive research efforts. In order to reveal the basic mechanisms
of stem cell differentiation two distinct areas of investigation are mostly considered –
the biochemical perspective and the physical or biomechanical perspective. In dealing
with the biomechanical prospective, an attempt to mimic the mechanically active milieu
for the MSCs was introduced using different research methods (see Chapter 2). Because
mesenchymal derived cells differentiate into tissues that usually have mechanically
supportive function, it is only logical to hypothesize that mechanical stimuli might
cause changes on the cellular level. In this chapter we review the effects of mechanical
stimulation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) according to different features and
parameters of the stimulus: shear stress applied to MSCs by fluid, micro-environmental
scale cellular mechanical stimuli, substrate stiffness, cell shape and surface topography
effects, the genomic level control of external mechanical force, micro-environmental
nano-fibres’ stretch and reorientation with the directional effect of the mechanical
stimulation. Clearly the understanding of the numerous mechanical effects with
different mechanical parameters of the stimuli that are applied to MSCs has been
advanced recently but still requires further extensive and thorough research in order to
manipulate these cells biomechanically for a clinical use.
Keywords: Cell differentiation, ECM, mechanical stimuli.
