Principles of cell mechanics for cartilage tissue engineering.

The critical importance of mechanical signals to the health and maintenance of articular cartilage has been well demonstrated. Tissue engineers have taken a cue from normal cartilage physiology and incorporated the use of mechanical stimulation into their attempts to engineer functional cartilage. However, the specific types of mechanical stimulation that are most beneficial, and the mechanisms that allow a chondrocyte to perceive and respond to those forces, have yet to be elucidated.

Temporal effects of cell adhesion on mechanical characteristics of the single chondrocyte.

Cell adhesion to material surfaces is a fundamental phenomenon in tissue response to implanted devices, and an important consideration in tissue engineering. For example, elucidation of phenomena associated with adhesion of chondrocytes to biomaterials is critical in addressing the difficult problem of articular cartilage regeneration. The first objective of this study was to measure the mechanical adhesiveness characteristics of individual rabbit articular chondrocytes as a function of seeding time to provide further understanding of the cell adhesion process.

Factors influencing changes in articular cartilage following hemiarthroplasty in sheep.

This study examined the relationship between acetabular cartilage properties after hemiarthroplasty surgery and surgical variables including femoral head size and position. Nineteen sheep received unilateral hip arthroplasties and were euthanized one year post-operatively to harvest the femora and acetabula. Cartilage histology, biochemistry and material properties were determined from samples located in the superior load-bearing region.

Quantification of varying adhesion levels in chondrocytes using the cytodetacher.

The potential to promote cell adhesion must be evaluated in the development of tissue-engineered implants and scaffolds. One measure of cell adherence is the force necessary to detach the cell. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytodetacher (Athanasiou, K.

Influence of canine recombinant somatotropin hormone on biomechanical and biochemical properties of the medial meniscus in stifles with altered stability.

Objective: To determine biomechanical and biochemical properties of the medial meniscus in a semi-stable stifle model and in clinical patients and to determine the effect of canine recombinant somatotropin hormone (STH) on those properties.

Animals: 22 healthy adult dogs and 12 dogs with meniscal damage secondary to cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) rupture.

Procedure: The CCL was transected in 15 dogs, and stifles were immediately stabilized.

Effect of poly(ethylene glycol) molecular weight on tensile and swelling properties of oligo(poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate) hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering.

This study was designed to determine the effect of changes in poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) molecular weight on swelling and mechanical properties of hydrogels made from a novel polymer, oligo(poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate) (OPF), recently developed in our laboratory. Properties of hydrogels made from OPF with initial PEG molecular weights of 860, 3900, and 9300 were examined. The PEG 3900 formulation had a tensile modulus of 23.