Regulation of Stem Cells Based on the Biomechanics and Measurement of their Associated Physical Properties

Stem cells transplantation had been proved to be effective in many clinical diseases. However, microenvi-ronment can influence their growth, migration and differentiation. Under chemical microenvironment, such as hypoxia, neural growing factors and different kinds of ions, stem cells had been intensively studied while little is known about their performance under physical microenvironment. The effects of mechanical forces, elasticity and rigidity of the matrix of stem cellsare still to be further investigated. This article is to summarize how microenvironment controls the fate of stem cells and to review the measurement of the mechanical properties.