Regulatory effects of mechanical strain on the chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs in a collagen-GAG scaffold: experimental and computational analysis.

The effective treatment of cartilage defects by tissue engineering requires an improved understanding of the effect of mechanical forces on cell differentiation within three-dimensional (3D) matrices. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of mechanical constraint and cyclic tensile strain on the chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in a 3D collagen type I-glycosaminoglycan (GAG) scaffold. A multi-station uniaxial stretching bioreactor was fabricated to facilitate application of cyclic strain to the constructs cultured in a chondrogenic medium.