BIOMECHANICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CELLULAR RESPONSE DUE TO SHOCK WAVES

Our research provides a first step towards a systematic, cell-level study of the effects of shock waves on the mechanical and biochemical properties of cells on solid supports. Motivated to better understand the relationship between shock exposure and heterotopic ossification (HO) a type of soft tissue injury, we designed an experimental setup to expose cell sheets of adipose derived stem cells to shock waves. A key guideline in the experimental design was to suppress cavitation. To this end we built a spark transducer and used a pressurized sample chamber. Cell viability tests and cytoskeletal staining showed little difference between shock-exposed cells and controls. We attribute this to the absence of cavitation. Time-resolved gene expression revealed that a large number of genes were affected by the shock wave exposure. Importantly, the experimental setup and the procedures we developed provide a basis for further studies of shock wave effects on a broad range of other cells. Specifically, they could be adopted to gain further understanding of cellular level causes of traumatic brain injury.