Affiliations: Research Group on Cell and Tissue Engineering and Mechanics, LEMTA-UMR CNRS 7563 and IFR III, Faculty of Medicine, University Henri Poincaré-Brabois, 54500 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France | Immunology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, UHP Nancy 1, 54500 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France
Note: [] Corresponding author: Fawzi-Grancher Shalaw, Mécanique et Ingénierie Cellulaire et Tissulaire, UMR CNRS 7563 (LEMTA), Faculté de Medecine, UHP-Nancy 1-B.P. 184, 54500 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy cedex, France. Tel.: +33 03 83 68 34 74; Fax: +33 03 83 68 34 59; E-mail: Shalaw.Fawzi@medecine.uhp-nancy.fr.
Abstract: It is well known today that mechanical forces are one of the important factors that induce a variety of cellular responses including morphological changes, protein synthesis, and gene expression and which are involve in tissue remodelling. We studied the effect of uniaxial cyclic stretching on the proliferation, collagens, and tenascin C mRNA expression of fibroblasts under different concentrations of foetal bovine serum. Proliferation was studied by cell cycle analysis, mRNA expression of collagen and tenascin C was studied by RT-PCR. Human fibroblasts were grown in silicon sheet coated with 1% gelatin. Cyclic stretching (5% elongation) was applied at 0.5 Hz (30 cycle/min), for 24 h with two concentrations of the serum (0.5%, 10% FBS). We showed that stretching enhances the synthesis of collagen and tenascin C, but do not act on the proliferation. In contrast, higher concentration of serum enhances the proliferation. These findings suggest that both mechanical stretching and serum concentration can modulate proliferation and extra cellular matrix synthesis in human fibroblasts.
