title: Bio- chemical and physical characterizations of mesenchymal stromal cells along the time course of directed differentiation.
abstract: Cellular biophysical properties are novel biomarkers of cell phenotypes which may reflect the status of differentiating stem cells. Accurate characterizations of cellular biophysical properties, in conjunction with the corresponding biochemical properties could help to distinguish stem cells from primary cells, cancer cells, and differentiated cells. However, the correlated evolution of these properties in the course of directed stem cells differentiation has not been well characterized. In this study, we applied video particle tracking microrheology (VPTM) to measure intracellular viscoelasticity of differentiating human mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (hMSCs). Our results showed that osteogenesis not only increased both elastic and viscous moduli, but also converted the intracellular viscoelasticity of differentiating hMSCs from viscous-like to elastic-like. In contrast, adipogenesis decreased both elastic and viscous moduli while hMSCs remained viscous-like during the differentiation. In conjunction with bio- chemical and physical parameters, such as gene expression profiles, cell morphology, and cytoskeleton arrangement, we demonstrated that VPTM is a unique approach to quantify, with high data throughput, the maturation level of differentiating hMSCs and to anticipate their fate decisions. This approach is well suited for time-lapsed study of the mechanobiology of differentiating stem cells especially in three dimensional physico-chemical biomimetic environments including porous scaffolds.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophotonics, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.|Biophotonics &Molecular Imaging Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yin-Quan
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Shiuan
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-An
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophotonics, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.|Biophotonics &Molecular Imaging Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Chang
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.|Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Juan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Del Álamo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophotonics, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.|Biophotonics &Molecular Imaging Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiou
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.|Taipei City Hospital, Taipei 10341, Taiwan.|Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.|Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 11217, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Oscar K
authors.initials: OK
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D050156:Adipogenesis; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D022001:Focal Adhesions; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010012:Osteogenesis; D012212:Rheology; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D000199:Actins