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Migration and healing of ligament cells under inflammatory conditions
Author(s) -
Witkowski Jeanine,
Yang Li,
Wood Douglas J.,
Sung KL. Paul
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of orthopaedic research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.041
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1554-527X
pISSN - 0736-0266
DOI - 10.1002/jor.1100150217
Subject(s) - medial collateral ligament , wound healing , anterior cruciate ligament , ligament , medicine , cell migration , inflammation , periodontal fiber , anatomy , cell , chemistry , surgery , dentistry , biochemistry
Abstract It is well documented that the adult human medial collateral ligament has a functional healing response, whereas the anterior cruciate ligament does not. The differential healing responses of the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments could be due to factors caused by different biological conditions and locations in vivo . In addition, different intrinsic properties of the constituent cells of these ligaments may contribute to their different healing abilities. Ligament healing follows an orderly process of hemorrhage, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. At the cellular level, healing involves a cell's detachment from and attachment to the matrix adjacent to the wound area, migration, and proliferation. This study sought to investigate whether, during migration, the responses of the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligament fibroblasts are intrinsically different under the same inflammatory conditions. Human medial collateral arid anterior cruciate ligament fibroblast cells were cultured, and in vitro wounds were simulated by streaking the cells with an inoculating loop, creating a cell‐free area. The migration of the cells into this gap, thus filling the cell‐free area, was observed. Two sets of experiments were conducted; one varied the wound width and the, other added the inflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor‐a, complement C5a, and lipopolysaccharide the width of the wound increased, the rate of recovery decreased for both types of ligament cells (slope: anterior cruciate ligament, 0.13 hour/μm and medial collateral ligament, 0.10 hour/μm). Also, the three inflammatory factors used all inhibited the recovery rates of both ligaments to ones that were 1.4–2.3 times slower than controls. However, in both sets of experiments, the anterior cruciate ligament fibroblasts were more sensitive to inflammatory factors, and the medial collateral ligament fibroblasts had faster recovery rates (anterior cruciate ligament, 1.2–3.4 times slower than rates for medial collateral ligament fibroblasts, excluding those under lipopolysaccharide treatment). The results showed that medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligament fibroblasts responded differently under the same inflammatory conditions. This may suggest that these differences in intrinsic properties contribute to their different healing responses and abilities.