title: Electrical stimulation enhances cell migration and integrative repair in the meniscus.
abstract: Electrical signals have been applied towards the repair of articular tissues in the laboratory and clinical settings for over seventy years. We focus on healing of the meniscus, a tissue essential to knee function with limited innate repair potential, which has been largely unexplored in the context of electrical stimulation. Here we demonstrate for the first time that electrical stimulation enhances meniscus cell migration and integrative tissue repair. We optimize pulsatile direct current electrical stimulation parameters on cells at the micro-scale, and apply these to healing of full-thickness defects in explants at the macro-scale. We report increased expression of the adenosine A2b receptor in meniscus cells after stimulation at the micro- and macro-scale, and propose a role for A2bR in meniscus electrotransduction. Taken together, these findings advance our understanding of the effects of electrical signals and their mechanisms of action, and contribute to developing electrotherapeutic strategies for meniscus repair.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York NY, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaoning
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York NY, USA.
authors.forename: Derya E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Arkonac
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine and School of Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Pen-hsiu Grace
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York NY, USA.
authors.forename: Gordana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vunjak-Novakovic
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002465:Cell Movement; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D048091:Guided Tissue Regeneration / Q000379:methods*; D061307:Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D043704:Receptor, Adenosine A2B / Q000378:metabolism; D000070600:Tibial Meniscus Injuries; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: D043704:Receptor, Adenosine A2B