Effects of uniaxial stretching on tenocyte migration behaviour

Abstract

It is widely known that tendon tissues are subjected to repeated cyclic mechanical load which influences cellular processes. The involvement of principles of mechanics in tissue engineering contributes to the investigations of the connection between mechanical and biological parameters in cellular processes and as well as to the development of new approaches for specific treatment methods. The healing process of injured tendons includes tenocyte migration which occurs from intact regions of tendon into the wound site. The aim of the present study is to investigate and enhance the migration characteristics of tenocytes under uniaxial mechanical stretching using an in-house tensile bioreactor system. Uniaxial mechanical stretching is applied to tenocyte-seeded silicone as well as collagen membranes, which possess different material properties. Tenocyte-seeded silicone membranes were investigated under three different loading conditions, including unstimulated (control), 3% and 5% strain, at frequency of 0.5 Hz. Tenocyte-seeded collagen membranes were investigated using three different frequencies, including unstimulated (control), 0.1 Hz and 0.5 Hz at strain of 4%. The main finding in this study is that uniaxially mechanical stretching at 3% strain enhances the cell migration more than 5% strain on silicone membranes.

Keywords

• tendon tissue engineering
• uniaxial stretching
• tenoyctes
• silicone membrane
• collagen membrane