R.G. Bacabac

Mechanosensation and transduction in osteocytes

The human skeleton is a miracle of engineering, combining both toughness and light weight. It does so because bones possess cellular mechanisms wherein external mechanical loads are sensed. These mechanical loads are transformed into biological signals, which ultimately direct bone formation and/or bone resorption. Osteocytes, since they are ubiquitous in the mineralized matrix, are the cells that sense mechanical loads and transduce the mechanical signals into a chemical response. The osteocytes then release signaling molecules, which orchestrate the recruitment and activity of osteoblasts or osteoclasts, resulting in the adaptation of bone mass and structure. In this review, we highlight current insights in bone adaptation to external mechanical loading, with an emphasis on how a mechanical load placed on whole bones is translated and amplified into a mechanical signal that is subsequently sensed by the osteocytes.

Bone cell mechanosensitivity, estrogen deficiency, and osteoporosis

Adaptation of bone to mechanical stresses normally produces a bone architecture that combines a proper resistance against failure with a minimal use of material. This adaptive process is governed by mechanosensitive osteocytes that transduce the mechanical signals into chemical responses, i.e. the osteocytes release signaling molecules, which orchestrate the recruitment and activity of bone forming osteoblasts and/or bone resorbing osteoclasts. Computer models have shown that the maintenance of a mechanically-efficient bone architecture depends on the intensity and spatial distribution of the mechanical stimulus as well as on the osteocyte response. Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by a reduced bone mass and a compromized resistance of bone against mechanical loads, which has led us to hypothesize that mechanotransduction by osteocytes is altered in osteoporosis. One of the major causal factors for osteoporosis is the loss of estrogen, the major hormonal regulator of bone metabolism. Loss of estrogen may increase osteocyte-mediated activation of bone remodeling, resulting in impaired bone mass and architecture. In this review we highlight current insights on how osteocytes perceive mechanical stimuli placed on whole bones. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of estrogen in signaling pathway activation by mechanical stimuli, and on computer simulation in combination with cell biology to unravel biological processes contributing to bone strength.

Nitric oxide signaling in mechanical adaptation of bone

One of the most serious healthcare problems in the world is bone loss and fractures due to a lack of physical activity in elderly people as well as in bedridden patients or otherwise inactive youth. Crucial here are the osteocytes. Buried within our bones, these cells are believed to be the mechanosensors that stimulate bone formation in the presence of mechanical stimuli and bone resorption in the absence of such stimuli. Intercellular signaling is an important physiological phenomenon involved in maintaining homeostasis in all tissues. In bone, intercellular communication via chemical signals like NO plays a critical role in the dynamic process of bone remodeling. If bones are mechanically loaded, fluid flows through minute channels in the bone matrix, resulting in shear stress on the cell membrane that activates the osteocyte. Activated osteocytes produce signaling molecules like NO, which modulate the activity of the bone-forming osteoblasts and the bone-resorbing osteoclasts, thereby orchestrating bone adaptation to mechanical loading. In this review, we highlight current insights in the role of NO in the mechanical adaptation of bone mass and structure, with emphasis on its role in local bone gain and loss as well as in remodeling supervised by osteocytes. Since mechanical stimuli and NO production enhance bone strength and fracture resistance, these new insights may facilitate the development of novel osteoporosis treatments.

Osteocyte Shape and Mechanical Loading

There is considerable variation in the shape of osteocyte lacunae, which is likely to influence the function of osteocytes as the professional mechanosensors of bone. In this review, we first discussed how mechanical loading could affect the shape of osteocyte lacunae. Recent studies show that osteocyte lacunae are aligned to collagen. Since collagen fiber orientation is affected by loading mode, this alignment may help to understand how mechanical loading shapes the osteocyte lacuna. Secondly, we discussed how the shape of osteocytes could influence their mechanosensation. In vitro, round osteocytes are more mechanosensitive than flat osteocytes. Altered lacunar morphology has been associated with bone pathology. It is important to know whether osteocyte shape is part of the etiology.

Microgravity and bone cell mechanosensitivity: FLOW experiment during the DELTA mission

The catabolic effects of microgravity on mineral metabolism in bone organ cultures might be explained as resulting from an exceptional form of disuse. It is possible that the mechanosensitivity of bone cells is altered under near weightlessness conditions, which likely contributes to disturbed bone metabolism observed in astronauts. In the experiment “FLOW”, we tested whether the production of early signaling molecules that are involved in the mechanical load-induced osteogenic response by bone cells is changed under microgravity conditions. FLOW was one of the Biological experiment entries to the Dutch Soyuz Mission “DELTA” (Dutch Expedition for Life Science, Technology and Atmospheric Research). FLOW was flown by the Soyuz craft, launched on April 19, 2004, on its way to the International Space Station. Primary osteocytes, osteoblasts, and periosteal fibroblasts were incubated in plunger boxes, developed by Centre for Concepts in Mechatronics, using plunger activation events for single pulse fluid shear stress stimulations. Due to unforeseen hardware complications, results from in-flight cultures are considered lost. Ground control experiments showed an accumulative increase of NO in medium for osteocytes (as well as for osteoblasts and periosteal fibroblasts). Data from the online-NO sensor showed that the NO produced in medium by osteocytes increased sharply after pulse shear stress stimulations. COX-2 mRNA expression revealed high levels in osteoblasts compared to the other cell types tested. In conclusion, preparations for the FLOW experiment and preliminary ground results indicate that the FLOW setup is viable for a future flight opportunity.

The Osteocyte as an Orchestrator of Bone Remodeling: An Engineer’s Perspective

Bone is adapted to mechanical loading. The trabeculae in cancellous bone and the osteons in cortical bone are aligned to the mechanical loading direction. Our bones are constantly remodeled by bone-resorbing osteoclasts and bone-forming osteoblasts, cooperating in so-called basic multicellular units or BMUs. In cortical bone, osteoclasts dig tunnels through solid bone, while in cancellous bone, they dig trenches across the trabecular surface. Osteoblasts fill these tunnels and trenches, creating osteons and hemi-osteons, respectively. How mechanical forces guide these cells is still uncertain, but mechanosensitive osteocytes are believed to orchestrate bone remodeling by sending signals to the cells at the bone surface. Computer simulations have demonstrated that local remodeling regulated by mechanosensitive osteocytes indeed produces load-aligned trabeculae and osteons. The strains around a BMU resorption cavity are concentrated at the lateral sides, away from the loading axis. Strain-induced osteocyte signals from these regions likely repel osteoclasts, forcing them to resorb bone in the loading direction, and at the same time, such signals could recruit osteoblasts to start bone formation. Thus, mechanosensitive osteocytes likely regulate the steering of and coupling within BMUs. A region of osteocyte death (therefore, lacking osteoclast-repelling signals) near the path of the BMU redirects its course to resorb this region. This may provide a mechanism for damage removal, because osteocyte death is associated with microdamage. BMUs may also function with disuse-induced osteocyte signals that recruit osteoclasts to the relatively unloaded region in front of the BMU and inhibit osteoblastic bone formation by osteoblast-inhibiting signals such as sclerostin when the tunnel or trench is sufficiently filled.

Osteocyte morphology and orientation in relation to strain in the jaw bone

Bone mass is important for dental implant success and is regulated by mechanoresponsive osteocytes. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the levels and orientation of tensile strain and morphology and orientation of osteocytes at different dental implant positions in the maxillary bone. Bone biopsies were retrieved from eight patients who underwent maxillary sinus-floor elevation with β-tricalcium phosphate prior to implant placement. Gap versus free-ending locations were compared using 1) a three-dimensional finite-element model of the maxilla to predict the tensile strain magnitude and direction and 2) histology and histomorphometric analyses. The finite-element model predicted larger, differently directed tensile strains in the gap versus free-ending locations. The mean percentage of mineralised residual native-tissue volume, osteocyte number (mean ± standard deviations: 97 ± 40/region-of-interest), and osteocyte shape (~90% elongated, ~10% round) were similar for both locations. However, the osteocyte surface area was 1.5-times larger in the gap than in the free-ending locations, and the elongated osteocytes in these locations were more cranially caudally oriented. In conclusion, significant differences in the osteocyte surface area and orientation seem to exist locally in the maxillary bone, which may be related to the tensile strain magnitude and orientation. This might reflect local differences in the osteocyte mechanosensitivity and bone quality, suggesting differences in dental implant success based on the location in the maxilla.

Microrheology of Biopolymers at Non-thermal Regimes

Many studies demonstrate the relevance of the mechanical properties of molecules and living cells to physiological function. Therefore, several techniques have been developed to probe the rheology of biological materials. Among them are based on the analysis of embedded probe fluctuations. However, novel applications using this robust tool are still lacking, despite the fact that the study of living matter routinely demonstrate new phenomena, not immediately characterized by existing analytical tools developed in physics. Hence, we derive novel robust tools to adapt ways of probing non-linear and non-equilibrium phenomena for biological samples. We propose designs of optical tweezer systems using two-beam tandems by dual-wavelength and single-wavelength splitting, for the study of microrheology in bulk down to single biopolymer or protein based on the fluctuation spectra of embedded or attached probes. We generalize, for the first time, calculations for winding turn probabilities to account for unfolding events in single fibrous biopolymers, which is modeled using a newly derived worm-like-chain model re-expressed by fractional strain expansion. The ensuing probe fluctuations are taken as originating from a damped harmonic oscillator. The approach described here offer new ways of characterizing biopolymer rheology using parameters based on folding turns and a newly derived WLC expansion for non-linear stretching.