title: Mechanics of intact bone marrow.
abstract: The current knowledge of bone marrow mechanics is limited to its viscous properties, neglecting the elastic contribution of the extracellular matrix. To get a more complete view of the mechanics of marrow, we characterized intact yellow porcine bone marrow using three different, but complementary techniques: rheology, indentation, and cavitation. Our analysis shows that bone marrow is elastic, and has a large amount of intra- and inter-sample heterogeneity, with an effective Young׳s modulus ranging from 0.25 to 24.7 kPa at physiological temperature. Each testing method was consistent across matched tissue samples, and each provided unique benefits depending on user needs. We recommend bulk rheology to capture the effects of temperature on tissue elasticity and moduli, indentation for quantifying local tissue heterogeneity, and cavitation rheology for mitigating destructive sample preparation. We anticipate the knowledge of bone marrow elastic properties for building in vitro models will elucidate mechanisms involved in disease progression and regenerative medicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 686 N Pleasant Street, 159 Goessmann Hall, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 686 N Pleasant Street, 159 Goessmann Hall, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Nathan P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Birch
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 686 N Pleasant Street, 159 Goessmann Hall, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Schiffman
authors.affiliation: Polymer Science and Engineering Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Dr., Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Alfred J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Crosby
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 686 N Pleasant Street, 159 Goessmann Hall, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Electronic address: speyton@ecs.umass.edu.
authors.forename: Shelly R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Peyton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001853:Bone Marrow; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D008422:Materials Testing; D012212:Rheology; D013552:Swine
keywords: Cavitation; Contact mechanics; Indentation; Rheology; Young׳s modulus