Persistent and transient mechanical loads can act as biological signals on all levels of an organism. It is therefore not surprising that most cell types can sense and respond to mechanical loads, similar to their interaction with biochemical and electrical signals. The presence or absence of mechanical forces can be an important determinant of form, function and health of many tissue types. Along with naturally occurring mechanical loads, it is possible to manipulate and apply external physical loads on tissues in biomedical sciences, either for prevention or treatment of catabolism related to many factors, including aging, paralysis, sedentary lifestyles and spaceflight. Mechanical loads consist of many components in their applied signal form such as magnitude, frequency, duration and intervals. Even though high magnitude mechanical loads with low frequencies (e.g. running or weight lifting) induce anabolism in musculoskeletal tissues, their applicability as anabolic agents is limited because of the required compliance and physical health of the target population. On the other hand, it is possible to use low magnitude and high frequency (e.g. in a vibratory form) mechanical loads for anabolism as well. Cells, including stem cells of the musculoskeletal tissue, are sensitive to high frequency, lowintensity mechanical signals. This sensitivity can be utilized not only for the targeted treatment of tissues, but also for stem cell expansion, differentiation and biomaterial interaction in tissue engineering applications. In this review, we reported recent advances in the application of low-intensity vibrations on stem and progenitor cell populations. Modulation of cellular behavior with low-intensity vibrations as an alternative or complementary factor to biochemical and scaffold induced signals may represent an increase of capabilities in studies related to tissue engineering.

持久的和暂时的机械负载可以在生物体的所有水平上充当生物信号。因此，毫不奇怪的是，大多数细胞类型都可以感应并响应机械负荷，类似于它们与生化和电信号的相互作用。机械力的存在与否可以是许多组织类型的形式，功能和健康的重要决定因素。除了自然产生的机械负荷外，还可以在生物医学科学中对组织施加外部物理负荷，并将其施加到组织上，以预防或治疗与许多因素有关的分解代谢，包括衰老，瘫痪，久坐的生活方式和太空飞行。机械负载在其施加的信号形式中包括许多分量，例如幅度，频率，持续时间和间隔。即使低频的高强度机械负荷（例如跑步或举重）在肌肉骨骼组织中引起合成代谢，但由于目标人群所需的依从性和身体健康，其作为合成代谢药物的适用性受到限制。另一方面，也可以将低幅度和高频（例如，以振动形式）的机械负载用于合成代谢。细胞，包括肌肉骨骼组织的干细胞，对高频，低强度机械信号敏感。这种敏感性不仅可用于组织的靶向治疗，而且还可用于组织工程应用中的干细胞扩增，分化和生物材料相互作用。在这篇评论中 我们报道了在干细胞和祖细胞群体上应用低强度振动的最新进展。低强度振动作为生化和支架诱导信号的替代或补充因素，对细胞行为的调节可能表示与组织工程相关的研究能力的增强。