Aghvami Maziar, Barocas V H, Sander E A
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
J Biomech Eng. 2013 Jul 1;135(7):71004. doi: 10.1115/1.4024460.
Engineered tissues are commonly stretched or compressed (i.e., conditioned) during culture to stimulate extracellular matrix (ECM) production and to improve the mechanical properties of the growing construct. The relationships between mechanical stimulation and ECM remodeling, however, are complex, interdependent, and dynamic. Thus, theoretical models are required for understanding the underlying phenomena so that the conditioning process can be optimized to produce functional engineered tissues. Here, we continue our development of multiscale mechanical models by simulating the effect of cell tractions on developing isometric tension and redistributing forces in the surrounding fibers of a collagen gel embedded with explants. The model predicted patterns of fiber reorganization that were similar to those observed experimentally. Furthermore, the inclusion of cell compaction also changed the distribution of fiber strains in the gel compared to the acellular case, particularly in the regions around the cells where the highest strains were found.
工程组织在培养过程中通常会受到拉伸或压缩（即预处理），以刺激细胞外基质（ECM）的产生，并改善正在生长的构建体的机械性能。然而，机械刺激与ECM重塑之间的关系是复杂、相互依存且动态的。因此，需要理论模型来理解潜在现象，以便优化预处理过程以生产功能性工程组织。在此，我们通过模拟细胞牵引力对发育中的等长张力以及嵌入外植体的胶原凝胶周围纤维中力的重新分布的影响，继续我们的多尺度力学模型开发。该模型预测的纤维重组模式与实验观察到的模式相似。此外，与无细胞情况相比，细胞压实的纳入也改变了凝胶中纤维应变的分布，特别是在发现最高应变的细胞周围区域。
