The strain-generated electrical potential in cartilaginous tissues: a role for piezoelectricity

The strain-generated potential (SGP) is a well-established mechanism in cartilaginous tissues whereby mechanical forces generate electrical potentials. In articular cartilage (AC) and the intervertebral disc (IVD), studies on the SGP have focused on fluid- and ionic-driven effects, namely Donnan, di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biophysical reviews 2021-02, Vol.13 (1), p.91-100
Main Authors: Poillot, Philip, Le Maitre, Christine L., Huyghe, Jacques M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biochemistry
Biological and Medical Physics
Biological Techniques
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biophysics
Cartilage
Cartilage (articular)
Cell Biology
Collagen
Deformation mechanisms
Degeneration
Diffusion effects
Electric potential
Extracellular matrix
Ferroelectricity
Intervertebral discs
Life Sciences
Measurement techniques
Mechanotransduction
Membrane Biology
Nanotechnology
Numerical models
Piezoelectricity
Review
Streaming
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Summary:The strain-generated potential (SGP) is a well-established mechanism in cartilaginous tissues whereby mechanical forces generate electrical potentials. In articular cartilage (AC) and the intervertebral disc (IVD), studies on the SGP have focused on fluid- and ionic-driven effects, namely Donnan, diffusion and streaming potentials. However, recent evidence has indicated a direct coupling between strain and electrical potential. Piezoelectricity is one such mechanism whereby deformation of most biological structures, like collagen, can directly generate an electrical potential. In this review, the SGP in AC and the IVD will be revisited in light of piezoelectricity and mechanotransduction. While the evidence base for physiologically significant piezoelectric responses in tissue is lacking, difficulties in quantifying the physiological response and imperfect measurement techniques may have underestimated the property. Hindering our understanding of the SGP further, numerical models to-date have negated ferroelectric effects in the SGP and have utilised classic Donnan theory that, as evidence argues, may be oversimplified. Moreover, changes in the SGP with degeneration due to an altered extracellular matrix (ECM) indicate that the significance of ionic-driven mechanisms may diminish relative to the piezoelectric response. The SGP, and these mechanisms behind it, are finally discussed in relation to the cell response.
ISSN:1867-2450
1867-2469
DOI:10.1007/s12551-021-00779-9