The Influence of Fluid Shear Stress on Bone and Cancer Cells Proliferation and Distribution

We investigated the potential correlation between the fluid shear stress and the proliferation of bone prostate cancer cells on the surface of nanoclay-based scaffolds in a perfusion bioreactor. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were seeded on the scaffolds to initiate bone growth. After 23 days, prostate cancer cells (MDAPCa2b) were cultured on top of the osteogenically differentiated hMSCs. The scaffolds were separated into two groups subjected to two distinct conditions: (i) static (no flow); and (ii) dynamic (with flow) conditions to recapitulate bone metastasis of prostate cancer. Based on measured data, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models were constructed to determine the velocity and shear stress distributions on the scaffold surface. Our experimental results show distinct differences in the growth pattern of hMSCs and MDAPCa2b cells between the static and dynamic conditions. Our computational results further suggest that the dynamic flow leads to drastic change in cell morphology and tumorous distribution. Our work points to a strong correlation between tumor growth and local interstitial flows in bones.

Automated summary

We studied the relationship between fluid shear stress and the proliferation of bone prostate cancer cells on nanoclay-based scaffolds in a perfusion bioreactor. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were seeded on the scaffolds to initiate bone growth. Prostate cancer cells (MDAPCa2b) were then cultured on top of the differentiated hMSCs. The experiments showed significant differences in cell growth patterns between static and dynamic conditions, and computational results indicated that dynamic flow had a drastic impact on cell morphology and tumorous distribution.