Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026
06:58
Culturing and Measuring Fetal and Newborn Murine Long Bones
Published on: April 26, 2019
Frontiers in growth and remodeling
1Institute of Mechanics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, TU Dortmund, Leonhard-Euler-Str. 5, D-44227 Dortmund, Germany.
Mechanics Research Communications
|August 25, 2012
Summary
Living matter adapts and remodels its structure in response to environmental changes. This review explores continuum modeling of growth and remodeling, offering insights into biological adaptation for life science and medicine.
Area of Science:
- Mechanics of living matter
- Biological adaptation and remodeling
Background:
- Living materials exhibit autonomous responses to environmental stimuli, unlike engineering materials.
- Continuous microstructural turnover enables adaptation in living structures, affecting tissue strength and size.
- Mechanistic understanding of growth and remodeling has been pursued for decades without a unified theory.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide a comprehensive overview of continuum modeling for growth and remodeling in living matter.
- To review historical developments, current research trends, and future directions in the field.
- To illustrate growth theories using volumetric growth as an example for soft living matter adaptation.
Main Methods:
- Review of historical developments in continuum modeling of growth and remodeling.
- State-of-the-art analysis of current research highlights.
- Illustrative example of volumetric growth to characterize soft tissue adaptation.
Main Results:
- Living matter's ability to autonomously grow and remodel is a key differentiator from engineering materials.
- Continuum modeling offers a framework to understand and characterize biological adaptation.
- Volumetric growth theories can elucidate functional adaptation in soft living tissues.
Conclusions:
- A unified characterization of growth and remodeling remains an ongoing challenge.
- This review provides a foundation for future research in the mechanics of living matter.
- Understanding growth and remodeling has significant potential impact on life science and medicine.
Related Concept Videos
01:40Bone Remodeling
Bone remodeling is a continuous and balanced process of bone resorption by osteoclasts and bone formation by osteoblasts. In adults, it helps maintain bone mass and calcium homeostasis. While mechanical stress can stimulate turnover as part of the normal maintenance and reparative process, several hormones also regulate bone remodeling.
01:31Osteoclasts in Bone Remodeling
Osteoclasts are cells responsible for bone resorption and remodeling. They originate from hematopoietic progenitor cells present in the bone marrow. Numerous progenitor cells fuse to form multinucleated cells, each with 10-20 nuclei. A single osteoclast has a diameter of 150 to 200 µM. These cells have ruffled borders that break down the underlying bone tissue and release minerals such as calcium into the blood in bone resorption. Osteoclasts cling to bones with their ruffled edges during bone...
01:31Bone Remodeling and Repair
Osteoclasts are cells responsible for bone resorption and remodeling. They originate from hematopoietic progenitor cells present in the bone marrow. Numerous progenitor cells fuse to form multinucleated cells, each with 10-20 nuclei. A single osteoclast has a diameter of 150 to 200 µM. These cells have ruffled borders that break down the underlying bone tissue and release minerals such as calcium into the blood in bone resorption. Osteoclasts cling to bones with their ruffled edges during bone...
01:27Growth of Cartilage and Bone Tissue
Chondrocytes form a temporary cartilaginous model by dividing and secreting a thick gel-like extracellular matrix. Once the chondrocytes undergo programmed cell death, osteoblasts enter the site of the cartilaginous model. The process of replacing the temporary cartilaginous model with bone in an ordered manner is called endochondral ossification. In endochondral ossification, not all of the cartilage is replaced by bone tissue. Some cartilage that performs a protective and supportive function...
02:36Cells Coordinate Growth and Proliferation
Cell size is a significant factor impacting cellular design, function, and fitness. There exists some internal coordination by which cells double their masses before division, thus, achieving homeostasis. Coordination between cell growth and proliferation depends on the checkpoints in between cell cycle phases. Loss of coordination or failure in the checkpoint mechanism can drive the cell to uncontrolled growth and loss of cellular function. Like dividing cells that coordinate cellular growth,...
02:36Cells Coordinate Growth and Proliferation
Cell size is a significant factor impacting cellular design, function, and fitness. There exists some internal coordination by which cells double their masses before division, thus, achieving homeostasis. Coordination between cell growth and proliferation depends on the checkpoints in between cell cycle phases. Loss of coordination or failure in the checkpoint mechanism can drive the cell to uncontrolled growth and loss of cellular function. Like dividing cells that coordinate cellular growth,...