Rejuvenated fibroblasts can recover the ability to contract
- Date:
- May 26, 2020
- Source:
- National University of Singapore
- Summary:
- A recent study has shown that rejuvenated fibroblasts can recover their ability to self-contract. This encouraging discovery holds great potential for applications in regenerative medicine and stem cell engineering.
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Fibroblasts are the most common connective tissue cells. They produce the structural framework for animal tissues, synthesise the extracellular matrix and collagen, and play a critical role in wound healing. However, during the cellular aging process, fibroblasts lose their ability to contract, leading to stiffness due to reduced connective tissues.
A study from the Mechanobiology Institute at the National University of Singapore has shown that these fibroblasts can be rejuvenated, or redifferentiated, by being geometrically confined on micropatterns. The above shows microscopic imaging of the control (left) and rejuvenated fibroblasts (right), with fluorescent labels highlighting the nucleus (blue), nuclear envelope (green), and cytoskeleton (in magenta). The presence of more contractile proteins (in red) in the rejuvenated fibroblasts indicates that they have recovered their ability to contract. These rejuvenated cells were observed to have reduced DNA damage, and enhanced cytoskeletal gene expression.
The results of this study were first published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on 29 April 2020.
The research team believes that their mechanical reprogramming approach can overcome the shortcomings of conventional rejuvenation methods, including generation of short-lived or oncogenic fibroblasts. These mechanically rejuvenated fibroblasts could potentially be used as clinical implants in regenerative medicine and stem cell engineering.
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Materials provided by National University of Singapore. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Bibhas Roy, Luezhen Yuan, Yaelim Lee, Aradhana Bharti, Aninda Mitra, G. V. Shivashankar. Fibroblast rejuvenation by mechanical reprogramming and redifferentiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020; 117 (19): 10131 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1911497117
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