Optimizing MSC osteogenic potential with mechanical stress

The ultimate goal of B3OA lab is to develop therapeutic alternatives to autologous bone graft for the healing of bone defects. For this purpose, 3D-biomaterials are combined with MSCs and cultivated using bioreactors to produce bone tissue engineering products (BTEP). In order to optimize the therapeutic potential of these BTEPs, it is essential to control the microenvironment of the MCSs and more specifically, the mechanical stress perceived by these cells.
The objective of the project is to better understand the effect of mechanical stimulation on MSCs in order to optimize their therapeutic potential for bone repair. To do this, two sub-projects are developed.

1/ To determine the impact of mechanical stress on MSCs in a 2D system

The objective is to determine the level of mechanical stimulation maximizing the osteogenic process in MSCs. This requires analyzing the functionality of MSCs in response to shear stress. In this context, the question of the transition from in-vitro to in-vivo also arises: particularly the question of the inter-individual osteogenic potential of the MSCs obtained from different patients. It is, therefore, crucial to determine a set of in-vitro biomarkers that can account for the variations of in-vivo bone repair potential of each batch of MSCs.

2/ To determine the impact of mechanical stress in medical devices for bone repair

In this project, custom bioreactors are developed in order to reproduce physiological, macroscopic, mechanical conditions of the tissue to be replaced. Medical devices (e.g. intervertebral fusion cage, biomaterials…) are seeded with MSCs and are placed in these bioreactors in order to assess the impact of the mechanical stimulation on the osteogenic potential of MSCs.