Abstract
During loading of viscoelastic tissues, part of the mechanical energy is transformed into heat that can locally increase the tissue temperature, a phenomenon known as self-heating. In the framework of mechanobiology, it has been accepted that cells react and adapt to mechanical stimuli. However, the cellular effect of temperature increase as a by-product of loading has been widely neglected. In this work, we focused on cartilage self-heating to present a 'thermo-mechanobiological' paradigm, and demonstrate how the coupling of a biomimetic temperature evolution and mechanical loading could influence cell behavior. We thereby developed a customized in vitro system allowing to recapitulate pertinent in vivo physical cues and determined the cells chondrogenic response to thermal and/or mechanical stimuli. Cellular mechanisms of action and potential signaling pathways of thermo-mechanotransduction process were also investigated. We found that co-existence of thermo-mechanical cues had a superior effect on chondrogenic gene expression compared to either signal alone. Specifically, the expression of Sox9 was significantly upregulated by application of the physiological thermo-mechanical stimulus. Multimodal transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) channels were identified as key mediators of thermo-mechanotransduction process, which becomes ineffective without external calcium sources. We also observed that the isolated temperature evolution, as a by-product of loading, is a contributing factor to the cell response and this could be considered as important as the conventional mechanical loading. Providing an optimal thermo-mechanical environment by synergy of heat and loading portrays new opportunity for development of novel treatments for cartilage regeneration and can furthermore signal key elements for emerging cell-based therapies.