Dynamic mechanical stimulation has been an effective method to improve the growth of tissue engineering cartilage constructs derived from immature cells. However, when more mature cell populations are used, results are often variable due to the differing responses of these cells to external stimuli. This can be especially detrimental in the case of mechanical loading. In previous studies, multi-modal mechanical stimulation in the form of stochastic resonance was shown to be effective at improving the growth of young bovine chondrocytes. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the short-term and long-term effects of stochastic resonance on two groups of bovine chondrocytes, adult (> 30 month) and juvenile (~ 18 months). While the juvenile cells outperformed the adult cells in terms of their anabolic response to loading, combined mechanical loading for both age groups resulted in greater matrix synthesis compared to compressive loading alone. In the adult cells, potential pathological tissue formation was evident with the presence of cell clustering. However, the presence of broad-band mechanical vibrations (alone or with compressive loading) appeared to mitigate this response and allow these cells to attain a growth response similar to the juvenile, unstimulated cells. Therefore, the use of stochastic resonance appears to show promise as a method to improve the formation and properties of tissue engineered cartilage constructs, irrespective of cell age.
Keywords: Adult cells; Cartilage tissue engineering; Chondrocytes; Mechanical stimulation; Stochastic resonance; Vibration.