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Table 1 Role and application of mechanical signals on stem cell differentiation

From: How the mechanical microenvironment of stem cell growth affects their differentiation: a review

Physical signal

Mechanical signal

Responsive cell

Effectiveness of mechanical signal

Application

References

ECM

dECM

BMSC

Enhancing osteogenic and angiogenic potential

Optimization of cell culture conditions

[20]

3D Microenvironment

hESC

Promoting gene expression associated with differentiation to neural crest stem cells and osteoblasts

Optimizing artificial scaffolds as culture conditions

[23]

ECM and artificial scaffolds

hASC

Corresponding cell-derived ECM promotes corresponding differentiation

Improving the regenerative capacity of unmodified scaffolds

[26]

Substrate topology

Low pore size fibres

hMSC

Enhancing osteogenesis

Inducing stem cell-directed differentiation

[32]

Large pore size fibres

rAMSC

Promoting differentiation into islet-like clusters

[33]

Porous topology

NSPC

Promoting differentiation into astrocytes and neurons

[34]

Composite microstructure of nanofibres

rBMSC

Enhancing osteogenic differentiation

[35]

Substrate hardness

High hardness 3D-printed ECM

BMSC

Differentiating into sweat gland cells and hair follicle cells

[38]

Hard alginate shells

hMSC

Promoting osteogenic differentiation

[39]

Soft hydrogel

VPC

Inducing differentiation towards endothelial cells

[40]

Shear stress

Oscillatory shear stress

rBMSC

Promoting osteogenic differentiation

Bone tissue engineering

[48]

Intermittent shear stress

rBMSC

Enhancing osteogenic differentiation

[49]

Perfusion culture

3D MT-dASC

Changing in direction of osteogenic differentiation to lipogenic differentiation

[55]

Hydrostatic pressure

Circulating hydrostatic pressure

MSC

Enhancing osteogenic response

Changing the direction of stem cell differentiation

[59]

Circulating hydrostatic pressure and decalcified bone matrix scaffold

MSC

Reducing osteogenic properties and enhancing chondrogenic properties

[60]

Tension

Cyclic mechanical draft force

Human periodontal stem cells

Promoting osteogenic differentiation

Dental tissue engineering

[61,62,63]

Cyclic stretching

EPCs

Differentiating towards endothelium and angiogenesis

Vascular regeneration project

[64]

Bone marrow-derived cells

Expressing smooth muscle cell markers

[65]

Microgravity

Microgravity

hBMSC

Inhibiting osteogenic differentiation and promoting adipogenic and chondrogenic differentiation

Treatment of diseases related to bone loss in space

[75, 76]

Nanostands and microgravity

hBMSC

Mitigating microgravity-induced osteoblast dysfunction

[77]

Simulation of microgravity

mESC

Differentiating towards the stereotyped endoderm

Contribution to the study of regeneration engineering

[79]

  1. ECM extracellular matrix, BMSCs bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), hESCs human embryonic stem cells, hASCs human adipose stem cells, hMSC human MSC, rAMSCs rat adipose MSCs, VPC vascular progenitor cell, rBMSC rat bone marrow MSC, 3D MT-dASC 3D microtissue-derived adult stem cell, mESC mouse embryonic stem cell, NSPC neural stem progenitor cell, EPCs endothelial progenitor cells