The Effect of Cyclic Compressive Strain on the Differentiation of Osteoblast-Like Cells (MC3T3-E1) in 3-D Scaffold

Kim, Jung Kyu; Lee, Tae Soo; Bae, Eun Hee; Park, Yang Sook; Choi, Kui Won

Abstract

We examined the effect of an applied cyclic compressive strain on the growth and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cultured in a three-dimensional chitosan scaffold. The specially designed testing apparatus for mechanical stimulus was developed for uniaxial cyclic compressive strain. Cyclic compressive strain was applied over a period of 17 days with 150 cycles per day at a frequency of 0.5hz. Strain magnitude was 2.5% of the scaffold length. Control group and mechanically stimulated group were incubated and harvested at the indicated times. (day 3, 7, 10, 14, 17) The total amount of protein and alkaline phosphatase activity were examined. The total amount of protein of the control group was higher than that of the mechanically stimulated group. This was due to cell death for the nodule formation and calcium deposit of the mechanical stimuli group which resulted in cell differentiation. The alkaline phosphatase activity increased slightly in the control group. However, in the mechanical stimuli group, it increased significantly and reached its peak level on day 7 and subsequently its activity dropped to a level that was higher than the level at day 4(p < 0.05). Conclusively, it can be noted that the mechanical stimulus significantly accelerated the differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells.