PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Anthony Hung AU - Genevieve Housman AU - Emilie A. Briscoe AU - Claudia Cuevas AU - Yoav Gilad TI - Characterizing gene expression responses to biomechanical strain in an <em>in vitro</em> model of osteoarthritis AID - 10.1101/2021.02.22.432314 DP - 2021 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 2021.02.22.432314 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/02/22/2021.02.22.432314.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/02/22/2021.02.22.432314.full AB - Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common chronic degenerative joint disease affecting articular cartilage and underlying bone. Both genetic and environmental factors appear to contribute to the development of this disease. Specifically, pathological levels of biomechanical stress on joints play a notable role in disease initiation and progression. Population-level gene expression studies of cartilage cells experiencing biomechanical stress may uncover gene-by-environment interactions relevant to OA and human joint health. To build a foundation for such studies, we applied differentiation protocols to develop an in vitro system of chondrogenic cell lines (iPSC-chondrocytes). We characterized gene regulatory responses of three human iPSC-chondrocyte lines to cyclic tensile strain treatment. We measured the contribution of biological and technical factors to gene expression variation in this system and, even in this small sample, found several genes that exhibit inter-individual expression differences in response to mechanical strain, including genes previously implicated in OA. Expanding this system to include iPSC-chondrocytes from a larger number of individuals will allow us to characterize and better understand gene-by-environment interactions related to OA and joint health.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.