Effect of mechanical trauma on neuronal cell viability

To understand the cellular mechanisms of neuronal injury, it is very important to mimic the mechanical loading conditions experienced by the cells in vivo. A cell culture model is an idealized system to investigate cell injury at the cellular and molecular levels. The authors developed a model that allows mechanical stimuli to be precisely controlled and cellular responses to be quantified. In this study, shear stress was dynamically applied to PC2 cells and cell viability assessed at 24 hours. Dynamic mechanical loading of cells produced graded levels of injury as assessed by long-term viability. This system can now be used to investigate further the mechanism of the injury and to assess various treatments of neuronal injury and subsequent degeneration.