↓ Skip to main content

Dynamic Compression of Chondrocyte-Agarose Constructs Reveals New Candidate Mechanosensitive Genes

Overview of attention for article published in PLOS ONE, May 2012
Altmetric Badge

Mentioned by

twitter
1 X user

Citations

dimensions_citation
59 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
121 Mendeley
You are seeing a free-to-access but limited selection of the activity Altmetric has collected about this research output. Click here to find out more.
Title
Dynamic Compression of Chondrocyte-Agarose Constructs Reveals New Candidate Mechanosensitive Genes
Published in
PLOS ONE, May 2012
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0036964
Pubmed ID
Authors

Carole Bougault, Elisabeth Aubert-Foucher, Anne Paumier, Emeline Perrier-Groult, Ludovic Huot, David Hot, Martine Duterque-Coquillaud, Frédéric Mallein-Gerin

Abstract

Articular cartilage is physiologically exposed to repeated loads. The mechanical properties of cartilage are due to its extracellular matrix, and homeostasis is maintained by the sole cell type found in cartilage, the chondrocyte. Although mechanical forces clearly control the functions of articular chondrocytes, the biochemical pathways that mediate cellular responses to mechanical stress have not been fully characterised. The aim of our study was to examine early molecular events triggered by dynamic compression in chondrocytes. We used an experimental system consisting of primary mouse chondrocytes embedded within an agarose hydrogel; embedded cells were pre-cultured for one week and subjected to short-term compression experiments. Using Western blots, we demonstrated that chondrocytes maintain a differentiated phenotype in this model system and reproduce typical chondrocyte-cartilage matrix interactions. We investigated the impact of dynamic compression on the phosphorylation state of signalling molecules and genome-wide gene expression. After 15 min of dynamic compression, we observed transient activation of ERK1/2 and p38 (members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways) and Smad2/3 (members of the canonical transforming growth factor (TGF)-β pathways). A microarray analysis performed on chondrocytes compressed for 30 min revealed that only 20 transcripts were modulated more than 2-fold. A less conservative list of 325 modulated genes included genes related to the MAPK and TGF-β pathways and/or known to be mechanosensitive in other biological contexts. Of these candidate mechanosensitive genes, 85% were down-regulated. Down-regulation may therefore represent a general control mechanism for a rapid response to dynamic compression. Furthermore, modulation of transcripts corresponding to different aspects of cellular physiology was observed, such as non-coding RNAs or primary cilium. This study provides new insight into how chondrocytes respond to mechanical forces.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profile of 1 X user who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 121 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 3 2%
Spain 1 <1%
United States 1 <1%
France 1 <1%
Unknown 115 95%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 35 29%
Researcher 18 15%
Student > Master 16 13%
Student > Bachelor 12 10%
Student > Doctoral Student 9 7%
Other 15 12%
Unknown 16 13%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Engineering 32 26%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 25 21%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 24 20%
Medicine and Dentistry 14 12%
Physics and Astronomy 3 2%
Other 6 5%
Unknown 17 14%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 May 2012.
All research outputs
#20,157,329
of 22,665,794 outputs
Outputs from PLOS ONE
#172,668
of 193,511 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#148,641
of 164,419 outputs
Outputs of similar age from PLOS ONE
#3,538
of 3,849 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,665,794 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 193,511 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.0. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 164,419 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 3,849 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.