How to Keep Myofibroblasts under Control: Culture of Mouse Skin Fibroblasts on Soft Substrates.
J Invest Dermatol
; 144(9): 1923-1934, 2024 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39078357
ABSTRACT
During the physiological healing of skin wounds, fibroblasts recruited from the uninjured adjacent dermis and deeper subcutaneous fascia layers are transiently activated into myofibroblasts to first secrete and then contract collagen-rich extracellular matrix into a mechanically resistant scar. Scar tissue restores skin integrity after damage but comes at the expense of poor esthetics and loss of tissue function. Stiff scar matrix also mechanically activates various precursor cells into myofibroblasts in a positive feedback loop. Persistent myofibroblast activation results in pathologic accumulation of fibrous collagen and hypertrophic scarring, called fibrosis. Consequently, the mechanisms of fibroblast-to-myofibroblast activation and persistence are studied to develop antifibrotic and prohealing treatments. Mechanistic understanding often starts in a plastic cell culture dish. This can be problematic because contact of fibroblasts with tissue culture plastic or glass surfaces invariably generates myofibroblast phenotypes in standard culture. We describe a straight-forward method to produce soft cell culture surfaces for fibroblast isolation and continued culture and highlight key advantages and limitations of the approach. Adding a layer of elastic silicone polymer tunable to the softness of normal skin and the stiffness of pathologic scars allows to control mechanical fibroblast activation while preserving the simplicity of conventional 2-dimensional cell culture.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Pele
/
Miofibroblastos
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Invest Dermatol
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Canadá