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Fibroblasts migrate faster in the direction of applied tension in a collagen‐fibrin wound model
Author(s) -
Rouillard Andrew D.,
Holmes Jeffrey W.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.599.8
Subject(s) - fibrin , fibroblast , tension (geology) , wound healing , cell migration , chemistry , biomedical engineering , anatomy , biophysics , materials science , cell , surgery , medicine , in vitro , biology , composite material , ultimate tensile strength , biochemistry , immunology
After myocardial infarction, the structural and mechanical features of replacement scar tissue, particularly the degree of collagen fiber alignment, are an important determinant of ventricular function. We have found that in healing infarcts, collagen becomes aligned in the direction of greatest stretch, but the mechanism is not yet known. The aim of this work was to test whether cardiac fibroblasts migrate into a wound faster in the direction of tension, which may explain subsequent collagen alignment. Fibroblast‐populated collagen gels were cast in square molds. An incision made in the center of each gel was filled with fibrin to simulate a wound. Tension was applied either transversely or axially with respect to the long axis of the incision. After two days of culture, cell nuclei were fluorescently imaged. The distribution of cells migrating transversely into the incision was fit to the diffusion equation. The ratio of diffusion coefficients showed migration was 3.1±0.64 times faster when cells were migrating parallel, rather than perpendicular, to the direction of tension (p = 0.03). We conclude that tension can bias cardiac fibroblast migration, and that this effect merits further investigation as a potential mechanism for collagen alignment in scar tissue. This work was funded by the American Heart Association Pre‐doctoral Fellowship Program.