Initial studies of mechanical compression on neurogenesis with neonatal neural stem cells.

In this article we demonstrate the effect of mechanical compression on the behavior of cultured neural stem cells using a microelectromechanical system platform. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based stretchable substrates were used on a neurosphere (NS) assay to investigate the role of mechanical forces on the formation of radial glial processes and neuronal migration. To induce mechanical compression on NS, the PDMS culturing substrate was patterned with micron-sized wells. NS were cultured on the prestretched device. After 48 hours, when the NS had grown to the size of the well's width, the stretched substrate was released. The experimental results showed that applied mechanical compression on neural stem cells could be a factor accelerating the radial glial formation, which is associated with neurogenesis and neuronal migration. FROM THE CLINICAL EDITOR: This study demonstrates that mechanical compression on neural stem cells could be a factor accelerating the radial glial formation, which is associated with neurogenesis and neuronal migration.