Involvement of stretch-activated ion channels in strain-regulated glycosaminoglycan synthesis in mesenchymal stem cell-seeded 3D scaffolds

The objective of this study was to determine if cyclic tensile strain would regulate the rate of glycosaminoglycan synthesis via stretch-activated ion channels in adult mesenchymal stem cells seeded in a collagen type I-glycosaminoglycan scaffold and treated with TGF-β1. The application of 10% cyclic tensile loading at 1 Hz for 7 days significantly increased the rate of glycosaminoglycan synthesis, as assessed using [35S] sulphate incorporation. This increase was attenuated in the presence of a stretch-activated ion channel inhibitor (10 μM gadolinium chloride) demonstrating the involvement, in part, of these ion channels in the mechanotransduction pathway that couples cyclic tensile loading to matrix synthesis.