Transmission of mechanical information by purinergic signalling (Biophysical Journal)

The skeleton constantly interacts and adapts to the physical world. We have previously reported that physiologically-relevant mechanical forces lead to small repairable membrane injuries in bone-forming osteoblasts, resulting in release of ATP and stimulation of purinergic (P2) calcium responses in neighbouring cells. The goal of this study was to develop a theoretical model describing injury-related ATP and ADP release, their extracellular diffusion and degradation, and purinergic responses in neighboring cells.