Application of Cyclic Strain for Accelerated Skeletal Myogenic Differentiation of Mouse Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells with Cell Alignment

The fabrication of biomimetic skeletal myocyte constructs continues to present a challenge to functional tissue engineering. The skeletal myogenesis of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs) to mimic the native tissue architecture offers great therapeutic promise, but remains particularly difficult. The aim of this study was to examine the possibility of accelerating the skeletal myogenic differentiation of BMSCs with an aligned structure by applying cyclic strain. Mouse BMSCs (mBMSCs) were plated on silicone sheets that were coated with fibronectin and subjected to cyclic 10% uniaxial strain when they reached 80%–90% cell confluency. Cells cultured in a growth medium that were subjected to cyclic strain at a frequency of 0.17 Hz (10 times/min) demonstrated a shift of alignment within 48 h from a completely random orientation to a well-aligned morphology with well-organized actin stress fibers that were parallel to the strain vector. The cyclic strain restricted the motility and proliferati...