Control of hydrostatic pressure and osmotic stress in 3D cell culture for mechanobiological studies

Andreas P Kourouklis; Adam Wahlsten; Alberto Stracuzzi; Anastasiya Martyts; Lorenza Garau Paganella; Celine Labouesse; Dunja Al-Nuaimi; Costanza Giampietro; Alexander E Ehret; Mark W Tibbitt; Edoardo Mazza

doi:10.1016/j.bioadv.2022.213241

Control of hydrostatic pressure and osmotic stress in 3D cell culture for mechanobiological studies

Biomater Adv. 2023 Feb:145:213241. doi: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2022.213241. Epub 2022 Dec 13.

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Mechanical Systems, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Leonhardstrasse 21, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: akourouklis@ethz.ch.
² Institute for Mechanical Systems, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Leonhardstrasse 21, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
³ Institute for Mechanical Systems, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Leonhardstrasse 21, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland; Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
⁴ Institute for Mechanical Systems, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Leonhardstrasse 21, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland; Macromolecular Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Sonneggstrasse 3, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
⁵ Macromolecular Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Sonneggstrasse 3, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.

PMID: 36529095
DOI: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2022.213241

Abstract

Hydrostatic pressure (HP) and osmotic stress (OS) play an important role in various biological processes, such as cell proliferation and differentiation. In contrast to canonical mechanical signals transmitted through the anchoring points of the cells with the extracellular matrix, the physical and molecular mechanisms that transduce HP and OS into cellular functions remain elusive. Three-dimensional cell cultures show great promise to replicate physiologically relevant signals in well-defined host bioreactors with the goal of shedding light on hidden aspects of the mechanobiology of HP and OS. This review starts by introducing prevalent mechanisms for the generation of HP and OS signals in biological tissues that are subject to pathophysiological mechanical loading. We then revisit various mechanisms in the mechanotransduction of HP and OS, and describe the current state of the art in bioreactors and biomaterials for the control of the corresponding physical signals.

Keywords: Bioreactors and biomaterials; Chemomechanical coupling; Hydrostatic pressure; Mechanobiology; Osmolarity; Osmotic stress.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Cell Culture Techniques, Three Dimensional*
Cell Differentiation
Hydrostatic Pressure
Mechanotransduction, Cellular*
Osmotic Pressure