Mechanical status within cell monolayer decides the fusion of osteoclast precursors

Abstract eng:
It is always a confusing issue why bone resorption occurs at the site of microdamage within bone, where osteoclast precursors aggregate and finally fuse into osteoclasts. We hypothesize that the mechanical status within cell monolayer correlating with its morphology decides the cell fusion. In this study, the micro-contact printing technology was adopted to build multicellular monolayer with circular pattern. Traction force observations showed that the cell-substrate interaction reached its maximum value at the outer edge, interestingly, where the expression of force-transferring proteins, F-actin (intracelluar tension), vinculin (cell-substrate interaction), !-catenin and E-cadherin (cell-cell connections), were also highest. Probably responding to this high-level in-plane shear stress, the cell fusion was lowest at the outer edge of circular patterns. These results indicate that the mechanical microenvironment within the cell monolayer plays an important role in the fusion of osteoclast precursors and provide insight into the molecular mechanism.

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