Electrical stimulation (ES) has been tested clinically for over 40 years to promote bone healing, mainly as an adjunct to standard fracture treatments. However, the biological mechanisms by which ES promotes bone healing and the osteogenic commitment of bone progenitors cells remain poorly described.
In a recent study published in Scientific Reports, iBB researchers (João C. Silva, Fábio Garrudo and Frederico Ferreira) in collaboration with Sofia Fernandes (IBEB-Faculdade de Ciências-Universidade de Lisboa) and João Meneses, Nuno Alves and Paula Pascoal-Faria (CDRSP-Politécnico de Leiria), study the effect of five different ES protocols on the viability, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hBM-MSCs). A numerical finite element method (FEM) model of the culture platform was employed to characterize the system and predict the magnitude/distribution of the electric fields generated by the different ES protocols. In vitro cell culture studies showed that all the ES protocols did not impair cell viability and morphology and supported the osteogenic differentiation of hBM-MSCs. Our results evidenced relevant differences when considering the applied protocol operation mode (potential versus current controlled), including the choice of stimulus duration and period. They also suggest an improved performance of the applied current-controlled protocol (STIM3 OM) in promoting hBM-MSCs osteogenic differentiation as shown by a more efficient in vitro mineralization and higher expression of the late osteogenic marker genes. Overall, this work emphasizes the critical role of numerical modelling in selecting and optimizing ES parameters to improve MSC-based osteogenesis in vitro, a step forward towards the development of novel therapeutic strategies for bone regeneration.
This study was developed under the scope of the FCT funded projects “InSilico4OCReg” (PTDC/EME-SIS/0838/2021) and “OptiBioScafold” (PTDC/EME-SIS/4446/2020).
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