Biomechanics of Meniscus Cells: Regional Variation and Comparison to Articular Chondrocytes and Ligament Cells

Overview

Journal Biomech Model Mechanobiol

Publisher Springer

Date 2012 Jan 11

PMID 22231673

Citations 8

Authors

Johannah Sanchez-Adams

Kyriacos A Athanasiou

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Central to understanding mechanotransduction in the knee meniscus is the characterization of meniscus cell mechanics. In addition to biochemical and geometric differences, the inner and outer regions of the meniscus contain cells that are distinct in morphology and phenotype. This study investigated the regional variation in meniscus cell mechanics in comparison with articular chondrocytes and ligament cells. It was found that the meniscus contains two biomechanically distinct cell populations, with outer meniscus cells being stiffer (1.59 ± 0.19 kPa) than inner meniscus cells (1.07 ± 0.14 kPa). Additionally, it was found that both outer and inner meniscus cell stiffnesses were similar to ligament cells (1.32 ± 0.20 kPa), and articular chondrocytes showed the highest stiffness overall (2.51 ± 0.20 kPa). Comparison of compressibility characteristics of the cells showed similarities between articular chondrocytes and inner meniscus cells, as well as between outer meniscus cells and ligament cells. These results show that cellular biomechanics vary regionally in the knee meniscus and that meniscus cells are biomechanically similar to ligament cells. The mechanical properties of musculoskeletal cells determined in this study may be useful for the development of mathematical models or the design of experiments studying mechanotransduction in a variety of soft tissues.

Citing Articles

Intrinsic and growth-mediated cell and matrix specialization during murine meniscus tissue assembly.

Tsinman T, Jiang X, Han L, Koyama E, Mauck R, Dyment N FASEB J. 2021; 35(8):e21779.

PMID: 34314047 PMC: 8323983. DOI: 10.1096/fj.202100499R.

Coculture of meniscus cells and mesenchymal stem cells in simulated microgravity.

Weiss W, Mulet-Sierra A, Kunze M, Jomha N, Adesida A NPJ Microgravity. 2017; 3:28.

PMID: 29147680 PMC: 5681589. DOI: 10.1038/s41526-017-0032-x.

Tendon and ligament as novel cell sources for engineering the knee meniscus.

Hadidi P, Paschos N, Huang B, Aryaei A, Hu J, Athanasiou K Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2016; 24(12):2126-2134.

PMID: 27473559 PMC: 5107319. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2016.07.006.

Mapping the Nonreciprocal Micromechanics of Individual Cells and the Surrounding Matrix Within Living Tissues.

Xu X, Li Z, Cai L, Calve S, Neu C Sci Rep. 2016; 6:24272.

PMID: 27067516 PMC: 4828668. DOI: 10.1038/srep24272.

Mechanobiology of the meniscus.

McNulty A, Guilak F J Biomech. 2015; 48(8):1469-78.

PMID: 25731738 PMC: 4442061. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2015.02.008.

References

McDevitt C, Webber R . The ultrastructure and biochemistry of meniscal cartilage. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1990; (252):8-18. View

Leipzig N, Athanasiou K . Unconfined creep compression of chondrocytes. J Biomech. 2004; 38(1):77-85. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2004.03.013. View

Leipzig N, Eleswarapu S, Athanasiou K . The effects of TGF-beta1 and IGF-I on the biomechanics and cytoskeleton of single chondrocytes. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2006; 14(12):1227-36. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2006.05.013. View

Darling E, Topel M, Zauscher S, Vail T, Guilak F . Viscoelastic properties of human mesenchymally-derived stem cells and primary osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and adipocytes. J Biomech. 2007; 41(2):454-64. PMC: 2897251. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2007.06.019. View

Shieh A, Athanasiou K . Dynamic compression of single cells. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2006; 15(3):328-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2006.08.013. View

Skaggs D, Warden W, Mow V . Radial tie fibers influence the tensile properties of the bovine medial meniscus. J Orthop Res. 1994; 12(2):176-85. DOI: 10.1002/jor.1100120205. View

Fithian D, Kelly M, Mow V . Material properties and structure-function relationships in the menisci. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1990; (252):19-31. View

Sweigart M, Zhu C, Burt D, DeHoll P, Agrawal C, Clanton T . Intraspecies and interspecies comparison of the compressive properties of the medial meniscus. Ann Biomed Eng. 2005; 32(11):1569-79. DOI: 10.1114/b:abme.0000049040.70767.5c. View

Ofek G, Willard V, Koay E, Hu J, Lin P, Athanasiou K . Mechanical characterization of differentiated human embryonic stem cells. J Biomech Eng. 2009; 131(6):061011. PMC: 2817935. DOI: 10.1115/1.3127262. View

10.

Feng Y, Ofek G, Choi D, Wen J, Hu J, Zhao H . Unique biomechanical interactions between myeloma cells and bone marrow stroma cells. Prog Biophys Mol Biol. 2009; 103(1):148-56. DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2009.10.004. View

11.

Walker P, HAJEK J . The load-bearing area in the knee joint. J Biomech. 1972; 5(6):581-9. DOI: 10.1016/0021-9290(72)90030-9. View

12.

Darling E, Zauscher S, Guilak F . Viscoelastic properties of zonal articular chondrocytes measured by atomic force microscopy. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2006; 14(6):571-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2005.12.003. View

13.

Shin D, Athanasiou K . Cytoindentation for obtaining cell biomechanical properties. J Orthop Res. 2000; 17(6):880-90. DOI: 10.1002/jor.1100170613. View

14.

Cao L, Guilak F, Setton L . Three-dimensional finite element modeling of pericellular matrix and cell mechanics in the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disk based on in situ morphology. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2010; 10(1):1-10. PMC: 2970666. DOI: 10.1007/s10237-010-0214-x. View

15.

Ofek G, Wiltz D, Athanasiou K . Contribution of the cytoskeleton to the compressive properties and recovery behavior of single cells. Biophys J. 2009; 97(7):1873-82. PMC: 2756354. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2009.07.050. View

16.

Valiyaveettil M, Mort J, McDevitt C . The concentration, gene expression, and spatial distribution of aggrecan in canine articular cartilage, meniscus, and anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments: a new molecular distinction between hyaline cartilage and fibrocartilage in the knee.... Connect Tissue Res. 2005; 46(2):83-91. DOI: 10.1080/03008200590954113. View

17.

Hochmuth R . Micropipette aspiration of living cells. J Biomech. 1999; 33(1):15-22. DOI: 10.1016/s0021-9290(99)00175-x. View

18.

Darling E, Wilusz R, Bolognesi M, Zauscher S, Guilak F . Spatial mapping of the biomechanical properties of the pericellular matrix of articular cartilage measured in situ via atomic force microscopy. Biophys J. 2010; 98(12):2848-56. PMC: 2884253. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2010.03.037. View

19.

You H, Yu L . Atomic force microscopy imaging of living cells: progress, problems and prospects. Methods Cell Sci. 2000; 21(1):1-17. DOI: 10.1023/a:1009876320336. View

20.

Upton M, Guilak F, Laursen T, Setton L . Finite element modeling predictions of region-specific cell-matrix mechanics in the meniscus. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2006; 5(2-3):140-9. DOI: 10.1007/s10237-006-0031-4. View