Synergistic effect of matrix stiffness and inflammatory factors on osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (Biophysical Journal)

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in vivo reside in complex microenvironment. Changes of both biochemical and biophysical cues in the microenvironment caused by inflammation affect the differentiation behaviors of MSCs. Most studies however, only focus on either biochemical or biophysical cues, while the synergistic effect of matrix stiffness and inflammatory factors on osteogenic differentiation of MSCs has not been explored yet. Here, we showed that there was a matrix stiffness-dependent modulation in the osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs with higher matrix stiffness favoring osteogenesis bias.