Targeted mechanical properties for optimal fluid motion inside artificial bone substitutes

Bone Physiology, Biomaterial and the Effect of Mechanical/Physical Microenvironment on MSC Osteogenesis: A Tribute to Shu Chien's 80th Birthday

Professor Shu Chien is a world-renowned leader and founder of Bioengineering. In particular, he has made seminal contributions to advancing our systematic and insightful understanding of how cells perceive their physical/mechanical environment and coordinate cellular functions. In this review, as part of a tribute to Prof. Shu Chien's scientific achievement, we summarize the research progress in understanding the physiology of bone cells interacting with different mechanical/physical environments during bone tissue regeneration/repair. We first introduce the cellular composition of the bone tissue and the mechanism of the physiological bone regeneration/repair process. We then describe the properties and development of biomaterials for bone tissue engineering, followed by the highlighting of research progresses on the cellular response to mechanical environmental cues. Finally, several latest advancements in bone tissue regeneration and remaining challenges in the field are discussed for future research directions.

Biomechanics in bone tissue engineering

Biomechanics may be considered as central in the development of bone tissue engineering. The initial mechanical aspects are essential to the outcome of a functional tissue engineering approach; so are aspects of interface micromotion, bone ingrowths inside the scaffold and finally, the mechanical integrity of the scaffold during its degradation. A proposed view is presented herein on how biomechanical aspects can be synthesised and where future developments are needed. In particular, a distinction is made between the mechanical and the mechanotransductional aspects of bone tissue engineering: the former could be related to osteoconduction, while the latter may be correlated to the osteoinductive properties of the scaffold. This distinction allows biomechanicians to follow a strategy in the development of a scaffold having not only mechanical targets but also incorporating some mechanotransduction principles.