title: Cyclic mechanical stimulation rescues achilles tendon from degeneration in a bioreactor system.
abstract: Physiotherapy is one of the effective treatments for tendinopathy, whereby symptoms are relieved by changing the biomechanical environment of the pathological tendon. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we first established a model of progressive tendinopathy-like degeneration in the rabbit Achilles. Following ex vivo loading deprivation culture in a bioreactor system for 6 and 12 days, tendons exhibited progressive degenerative changes, abnormal collagen type III production, increased cell apoptosis, and weakened mechanical properties. When intervention was applied at day 7 for another 6 days by using cyclic tensile mechanical stimulation (6% strain, 0.25 Hz, 8 h/day) in a bioreactor, the pathological changes and mechanical properties were almost restored to levels seen in healthy tendon. Our results indicated that a proper biomechanical environment was able to rescue early-stage pathological changes by increased collagen type I production, decreased collagen degradation and cell apoptosis. The ex vivo model developed in this study allows systematic study on the effect of mechanical stimulation on tendon biology.
authors.affiliation: Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medicine Science, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|Centre for Orthopaedic Translational Research, School of Surgery, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Australia.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Orthopaedic Translational Research, School of Surgery, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Australia.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: Centre for Orthopaedic Translational Research, School of Surgery, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Australia.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thien
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Engineering and Physics, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Day
authors.affiliation: School of Computer Science and Software Engineering, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gardiner
authors.affiliation: School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rubenson
authors.affiliation: Curtin University, Bentley, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.affiliation: School of Computer Science and Software Engineering, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medicine Science, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Qiujian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Centre for Orthopaedic Translational Research, School of Surgery, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Australia.
authors.forename: Ming H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000125:Achilles Tendon / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D019149:Bioreactors; D002470:Cell Survival; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D024061:Collagen Type III / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D011817:Rabbits; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D052256:Tendinopathy / Q000378:metabolism; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D024061:Collagen Type III; D003094:Collagen
keywords: bioreactor; degeneration; ex vivo; mechanical stimulation; tendon