Nanomechanics of Engineered Articular Cartilage: Synergistic Influences of Transforming Growth Factor-β3 and Oscillating Pressure

Articular cartilage (AC), tissue with the lowest volumetric cellular density, is not supplied with blood and nerve tissue resulting in limited ability for self-repair upon injury. Because there is no treatment capable of fully restoring damaged AC, tissue engineering is being investigated. The emphasis of this field is to engineer functional tissues in vitro in bioreactors capable of mimicking in vivo environments required for appropriate cellular growth and differentiation. In a step towards engineering AC, human adipose-derived stem cells were differentiated in a unique centrifugal bioreactor under oscillating hydrostatic pressure (OHP) and supply of transforming growth factor beta 3 (TGF-β3) that mimic in vivo environments. Static micromass and pellet cultures were used as controls. Since withstanding and absorbing loads are among the main functions of an AC, mechanical properties of the engineered AC tissues were assayed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) under a controlled indentation depth of 100 nm. Young's moduli of elasticity were quantified by modeling AFM force-indentation data using the Hertz model of contact mechanics. We found exposure to OHP causes cartilage constructs to have 45-fold higher Young's moduli compared to static cultures. Addition of TGF-β3 further increases Young's moduli in bioreactor samples by 1.9-fold bringing it within 70.6% of the values estimated for native cartilage. Our results imply that OHP and TGF-β3 act synergistically to improve the mechanics of engineered tissues.