Simulation of Tissue Differentiation During Fracture Healing Within a Collagenous Scaffold Implanted in a Murine Tibia With an Oblique Fracture

It is known that mechanical factors play a key role in bone formation and regulation of tissue regeneration during skeletal healing. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Mechanical loads, such as cyclic compression, torsion and bending are key factors driving the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). On the other hand, excessive mechanical loading may disrupt the process of healing and lead to non-unions and cell apoptosis. Therefore, effective positive mechanical factors are bounded by a range and frequency. A number of mechanoregulation algorithms have been developed by comparing tissue differentiation patterns under different loading regimes [1, 2, 3, 4]. The aim of this study was to predict the development of differentiated tissues in a closed fracture model treated with a stem cell seeded soft collagenous scaffold under load regimes of axial compression, bending and torsion. The long term goal is to improve our understanding of fracture healing in non-union fractures and develop stem cell based tissue engineering treatments.