苑伟 段王平 卫小春
Articular cartilages endure a variety of dynamic stresses in a complex physiological environment. As the main force of normal human articular movement, the pressure can change the biological and mechanical properties of chondrocytes, including changes in the stress and strain of articular cartilage tissues, hydrostatic pressure, interstitial fluid flow, flow energy, osmotic pressure, changes of transferring between tissues and cell deformations and so on. Because of the specificity of the mechanical environment, the changes of the mechanical properties of chondrocytes will have an effect on the physiological functions of articular cartilages. It is difficult for articular cartilage injuries caused by many factors to repair themselves, which has brought great difficulties to the clinical treatment. There are many traditional methods of repairing cartilage defects clinically, while some shortcomings exist. Thanks to the development of tissue engineering technology, there is a new idea and method for the regeneration and repair of articular cartilage defects. Scaffold materials are mainly utilized to provide a space structure for the proliferation and matrix secretion of chondrocytes, and a kind of structure is formed similar to normal cartilage tissues to transplant and repair articular cartilage defects. Many factors get involved in the construction of tissue-engineered cartilages with good functions, such as seed cells, scaffold materials, culture conditions and so on, among which mechanical stimulation has a particularly important effect on the metabolism of articular cartilage matrixes and their mechanical properties. Therefore, an intensive study of the mechanical properties of chondrocytes will further clarify a series of processes needed to maintain normal physiological functions, such as the stress conditions and responses. There will be positive significance for the understanding of the biological properties of chondrocytes, the effects of compression stimulation on the mechanical properties of cells and the biological advantages as tissue-engineered cartilage seed cells.
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