The imperative for controlled mechanical stresses in unraveling cellular mechanisms of mechanotransduction.

Background: In vitro mechanotransduction studies are designed to elucidate cell behavior in response to a well-defined mechanical signal that is imparted to cultured cells, e.g. through fluid flow.

"Culture shock" from the bone cell's perspective: emulating physiological conditions for mechanobiological investigations.

Bone physiology can be examined on multiple length scales. Results of cell-level studies, typically carried out in vitro, are often extrapolated to attempt to understand tissue and organ physiology. Results of organ- or organism-level studies are often analyzed to deduce the state(s) of the cells within the larger system(s).