The role of the growth plate reserve zone is not well understood. It has been proposed to serve as a source of stem cells and to produce morphogens that control the alignment of clones in preparation for the transition into the proliferative zone. We hypothesized that if such a role exists, there are likely to be mechanoregulatory stimuli in cellular response through the depth of the reserve zone. A poroelastic multiscale finite element model of bone/growth-plate/bone was developed for examining the reserve zone cell transient response when compressed to 5% of the cartilage thickness at strain rates of 0.18%/s, 5%/s, 50%/s, and 200%/s. Chondrocyte maximum principal strains, height-, width-, and membrane-strains were found to be highly dependent on reserve zone tissue depth and strain rate. Cell-level strains and fluid transmembrane outflow from the cell were influenced by the permeability of the calcified cartilage between subchondral bone plate and reserve zone and by the applied strain rate. Cell strain levels in the lower reserve zone were less sensitive to epiphyseal permeability than in the upper reserve zone. In contrast, the intracellular fluid pressures were relatively uniform with reserve zone tissue depth and less sensitive to epiphyseal permeability. Fluid shear stress, induced by fluid flow over the cell surface, provided mechanoregulatory signals potentially sufficient to stimulate reserve zone chondrocytes near the subchondral bone plate interface. These results suggest that the strain rate and tissue depth dependence of cell-level strains and cell surface fluid shear stress may provide mechanoregulatory cues in the reserve zone.

生长板储备区的作用还不是很清楚。已经提出用作干细胞的来源并产生控制克隆排列以准备过渡到增殖区的形态发生素。我们假设，如果存在这样的作用，则在细胞反应中可能存在通过储备区深度的机械调节刺激。开发了骨/生长板/骨的多孔弹性多尺度有限元模型，用于检查以 0.18%/s、5%/s、50%/ 的应变速率压缩至软骨厚度的 5% 时的储备区细胞瞬态响应。秒和 200%/秒。发现软骨细胞最大主要应变、高度、宽度和膜应变高度依赖于储备区组织深度和应变率。细胞水平应变和液体跨膜流出量受软骨下骨板和储备区之间钙化软骨的渗透性以及施加的应变率的影响。下层储备区的细胞应变水平对骨骺通透性的敏感性低于上层储备区。相比之下，细胞内流体压力随储备区组织深度相对均匀，对骨骺通透性不太敏感。由细胞表面上的流体流动引起的流体剪切应力提供了可能足以刺激软骨下骨板界面附近的储备区软骨细胞的机械调节信号。