Combined effects of mechanical strain and hydroxyapatite/collagen composite on osteogenic differentiation of rat bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising source for bone repair and regeneration. Recent lines of evidence have shown that appropriate strain could regulate the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. Our previous study demonstrated that hydroxyapatite/collagen (HA/Col) composite also played an important role in the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of mechanical strain and HA/Col composite on the osteogenic differentiation of rat bone marrow derived MSCs (rBMSCs) in vitro. rBMSCs were treated with cyclic strain generated by a self-designed stretching device with or without the presence of HA/Col composite. Osteogenic differentiation levels were evaluated using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), alkaline phosphatase spectrophotometry, and western blotting. The results demonstrated that mechanical strain combined with HA/Col composite could obviously induce the differentiation of rBMSCs into osteoblasts, which had a better effect than only mechanical strain or HA/Col composite treatment. This provides a new avenue for mechanistic studies of stem cell differentiation and a novel approach to obtain more committed differentiated cells.