Perspective into the regulation of cell‐generated forces toward stem cell migration and differentiation

Abstract

Stem cells are promising candidates for cell-based therapies in diverse conditions including regenerating damaged tissues, treating inflammation in virtue of sepsis, acute renal failure, and cardiovascular disease. Advancement of these therapies relies on the ability to guide stem cells to migrate directly and differentiate towards specific cell phenotypes. During the past decade, many researchers have demonstrated that exogenous applied forces could significantly affect the migration and lineage differentiation of stem cells. Besides, recent advances have highlighted the critical role of internal forces due to cellmatrix interaction in the function of stem cells. Stem cells can generate contractile forces to sense the mechanical properties of cell-generated force microenvironment, and thereby perceive mechanical information that directs broad aspects of stem cell functions, including migration and lineage commitment. In the review, we recount the cell-generated force microenvironment of stem cells and discuss the interactions between cell-generated forces with migration and differentiation of stem cells. We also summarize key experimental evidence of a tight linkage between migration and lineage differentiation of stem cells and pose important unanswered questions in this field.

Freeform direct laser writing of versatile topological 3D scaffolds enabled by intrinsic support hydrogel

“…1,19 The flexibility of the complete 3D structure is emphasized when occupied by many cells with the scaffold distorted or elongated in a specific direction (ESI † Video S6). In addition to the influence on the entire construct, single cells are able to bend and twist rings in their direct vicinity, corroborating the low Young's modulus of a single ring, as single cells are capable of exerting forces only in the pN-nN regime, 62 while cellular forces inside the human body reach orders of mN. 63 In the case of the welded rings, this distortion is elastic and the structure regains its original 3D configuration (ESI † Video S7).…”

Mechanobiological conceptual framework for assessing stem cell bioprocess effectiveness

“…Cellular functions are influenced not only by internal cellular machinery, but also by external mechanical cues from the surrounding microenvironment. Forces that arise in biological systems can be classified into two main categories: internal and external (Chen et al, 2019; Goodwin & Nelson, 2021; Vining & Mooney, 2017). Internal forces are defined as the forces generated by the cells themselves.…”