Mechanically Induced Calcium Release From Bone Matrix Triggers Intracellular Ca2+ Signalling in Osteoblasts: A Novel Mechanotransduction Mechanism

Bone cells are responsible for sensing and converting the mechanical signals into cellular signals to drive bone adaptation and damage repair [1]. Cell-mediated repair of bone is reported to be in preferential association with regions filled with microdamage [2]. Although different theories have been proposed for mechanisms involved in those processes (such as substrate deformation, fluid flow shear, and hydrostatic pressure in mechanotransduction [3], or microcrack and osteocyte apoptosis in damage detection [4]), knowledge on the exact form of physical stimuli which trigger bone cells, especially in critically loaded regions of bone, is still elusive.