title: Corroboration of mechanobiological simulations of tissue differentiation in an in vivo bone chamber using a lattice-modeling approach.
abstract: It is well established that the mechanical environment modulates tissue differentiation, and a number of mechanoregulatory theories for describing the process have been proposed. In this study, simulations of an in vivo bone chamber experiment were performed that allowed direct comparison with experimental data. A mechanoregulation theory for mesenchymal stem cell differentiation based on a combination of fluid flow and shear strain (computed using finite element analysis) was implemented to predict tissue differentiation inside mechanically controlled bone chambers inserted into rat tibae. To simulate cell activity, a lattice approach with stochastic cell migration, proliferation, and selected differentiation was adopted; because of its stochastic nature, each run of the simulation gave a somewhat different result. Simulations predicted the load-dependency of the tissue differentiation inside the chamber and a qualitative agreement with histological data; however, the full variability found between specimens in the experiment could not be predicted by the mechanoregulation algorithm. This result raises the question whether tissue differentiation predictions can be linked to genetic variability in animal populations.
authors.affiliation: Trinity Centre for Bioengineering, School of Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Hanifeh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khayyeri
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Checa
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tägil
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Prendergast
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D017102:Fracture Healing / Q000502:physiology*; D048091:Guided Tissue Regeneration; D020007:Implants, Experimental; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013977:Tibia / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology