• Belinda Pingguan-Murphy and Illida Nawi.
• Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. bpingguan@um.edu.my
• Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2012 Aug 1; 67 (8): 939944939-44.

ObjectivesThe promotion of extracellular matrix synthesis by chondrocytes is a requisite part of an effective cartilage tissue engineering strategy. The aim of this in vitro study was to determine the effect of bi-axial cyclic mechanical loading on cell proliferation and the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans by chondrocytes in three-dimensional cultures.MethodA strain comprising 10% direct compression and 1% compressive shear was applied to bovine chondrocytes seeded in an agarose gel during two 12-hour conditioning periods separated by a 12-hour resting period.ResultsThe bi-axial-loaded chondrocytes demonstrated a significant increase in glycosaminoglycan synthesis compared with samples exposed to uni-axial or no loading over the same period (p<0.05). The use of a free-swelling recovery period prior to the loading regime resulted in additional glycosaminoglycan production and a significant increase in DNA content (p<0.05), indicating cell proliferation.ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that the use of a bi-axial loading regime results in increased matrix production compared with uni-axial loading.

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