Objective To build artificial dermis by using the acellular dermis matrix(ADM), collagen membrane and collagen gel as scaffolds. Methods The fibroblasts were isolated by enzyme from infant skin and were cultivated in the DMEM medium. After 14 days when the fibroblasts were seeded into 3 different scaffolds, the autografts were detected by HE staining, transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscope. Results ①The fibroblasts obtained from the fullskin by enzyme could be passaged in the Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium 2high gluco se w ith 10% calf bovine serum. ②A layer of fibroblastsw ere found on the surface of th ree different scaffo lds, the fibroblasts could grow into the co llagen membrane and the co llagengel, but could no t be found in the inner of ADM. ③A rt ificial derm is cont racted slightly by inoculat ing fabricat ion on collagen membrane and ADM , and the fibroblasts on them w ere no t act ive in proliferat ing; but the art ificial derm is built by the collagen gel cont racted obviously. Conclus ion The art ificial dermis built by ADM , collagen membrane and collagen gel as scaffolds have a preferable structure for an ideal subst itute of sk n, and can beused as the graft in the next experiments.
Objective To study the effects of dermal template on the biological behaviors of fibroblasts during wound healing. Methods A total of 120 rats were made fullthickness wound modes on the dorsum and divided into 4 groups,in group 1, the wounds were allowed to heal by contraction（ConT）；in group2, the wounds covered with fullthickness skin grafts( FTSG); in group 3, the wounds were with split thickness skin grafts (STSG); and ingroup 4, the wounds were covered by dermal regeneration template with overlying thin splitthickness autograft (ADMT).The specimens were obtained at one week, two weeks, four weeks, six weeks,and twelve weeks respectively. The expressions of α smooth muscle actin(αSMA，characteristic of MFB）,fibronectin(FN),integrin α2,β1 and transforming growth factor β1(TGF-β1) were examined by immunohistochemical analysis. Results Positive expression of α-SMA、FN、integrin α2β1 and TGF-β1 in ADMT groups was significantly lower than that in STSG group and ConT group, but higher than that in FTSG group（P＜0.05）. Conclusion Dermal regeneration template can inhibit the transformation of FB to MFB and restrain the expressionof FN,integrin α2,β1,and TGF-β1 in fibroblasts which might reduce thepossibility of hypertrophyic scaring, and improve wound healing.
Objective To observe the proapoptotic effect ofthe homogenate of different parts of pig’s full thickness dermal wounds on cultured fibroblasts. Methods The tissues were dissected from the wound center and subneoepithelium separately 15 days after homogenization and sterilization, the specimens stored at -70℃. The forth passage of the fibroblasts were cultured for 16 hours in different culture solutions and were grouped into 7 groups: DMEM containing 5% fetal bovine serum as Group Ⅰ, DMEM containing 5% homogenate of tissue from wound center as GroupⅡ, DMEM containing 5% homogenate of tissue from subneoepithelium as Group Ⅲ, the culture solution of Group Ⅱmixed with 10 μg/ml GM6001 in Group Ⅳ, with the culturing medium of Group Ⅲplus 10 μg/ml GM6001 as Group Ⅴ, the culture solution of Group Ⅱ mixed with 10 ng/ml aFGF as Group Ⅵ, and the culture solution of Group Ⅲ mixed with 10 ng/ml aFGF as Group Ⅶ. In all groups except Group Ⅰ, the fibroblasts of the 6 pigs were treated with the homogenate derived from the same animal respectively. After being incubated in Annexin Ⅴ-FITC and PI, cells were analyzed by Flow Cytometry and the rate of apoptotic cells was acquired. The data were analyzed by SPSS 11.0 using Leastsignificant Difference test(LSD). Results The apoptotic rate of the 7 groups were as follows:4.39%±0.41% in Group Ⅰ，10.98%±1.42% in Group Ⅱ，13.47%±1.44% in Group Ⅲ，7.2%±0.46% in Group Ⅳ，12.1%±0.85% in Group Ⅴ，3.9%±0.63% in Group Ⅵ，9.8%±0.50% in Group Ⅶ； there were significant differences between every two groups except Group Ⅰand Group Ⅵ. Conclusion Homogenate of the tissue derived from the subneoepithelium has greater proapoptotic effect than that from the wound center; the proapoptotic effect of homogenate of the tissue both under neoepithelium and in wound center can be significantly alleviated by acid fibroblast growth factor, partly because of MMPs.
In order to explore further the regulatory factors to the potentiality in inducing osteogenesis by fibroblasts, the fibroblasts were isolated, and purified from human skin, and were grown in incubation in the media of EGF, IL-6, TNF-alpha and BMP2 at different concentrations for two weeks, then, the markers for osteogenic features were investigated by biochemistry, histochemistry and electron microscopic observations. It was found that the combined use of TNF-alpha and BMP2 could stimulate fibroblasts to secrete alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin and collagen, and the morphological changes of the fibroblasts were also very striking. In the extracellular matrix, the collagen fibrils, with or without periodicity, were arranged regularly or randomly oriented, and numerous minute calcium granules were interspersed among them. The fibroblasts were interwoven one on top of another in the form of multilayer structure and on the surface, there were secreting granules and piling up of calcium crystals which coalessed steadily and increased in size in forming bony nodules. It was considered that TNF-alpha and BMP2 were capable of inducing the fibroblasts to form bone.
Taking Wistar rats and pigs as models, the basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was studied on wound healing. Five rats and five pigs were used in the experiment. Each rat had 2 roundshapedwound (1.8cm in diameter) and each pig had 4 wounds of the same size as that ofthe rat. One wound of each rat and 2 wound of each pig were dressed with bFGF saline (60U/cm2). While the other wounds of the rats and pigs were dressed with normal saline as control. The wounds treated with bFGF were completely covered with granulation tissue on the 7th day after injury, and in 14 days the wounds were almost completely covered by epithelium. The bFGF would enhance the growth of theepithelial cells, reepithelization of the wound and the tensile strength of thetissue. It was concluded that the bFGF could promote skin regeneration, whichmight be the direct action of bFGF on the bFGF receptors in the basic cells of skin.
OBJECTIVE: To prevent the senescence of ’seed cells’ for tissue engineering, the life span of human fibroblasts is extended by reconstitution of telomerase activity, and the osteogenic potential of these fibroblasts are tested. METHODS: The pGRN145 plasmids encoding human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) were introduced into the normal human primary fibroblasts by electroporation. Telomerase activity was analyzed by TRAP-PCR assay. The beta-galactosidase stain was used to indicate the signs of cell senescence. The hTERT positive fibroblasts were then induced to form bone nodules. The bone nodules were stained by tetracycline and Alizarin Red S. RESULTS: Stable telomerase activity could be detected in the transfected fibroblasts and no signs of cell senescence were found in the fibroblasts cultured for more than 50 doublings. The hTERT positive fibroblasts could form bone nodules when they were cultured in vitro induced by bone morphogentic protein 2 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. CONCLUSION: The fibroblasts with reconstituted telomerase activity reserve their osteogenic potential.
OBJECTIVE: To analysis the biological characteristics of human fibroblasts transfected by human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) eucaryotic expression plasmid pGRN145. METHODS: Fibroblasts from children’s foreskin were isolated and cultured in vitro, and the fibroblasts were transfected by pGRN145 with Lipofec-tAMINE PLUS Reagent. After strict screening of hygromycin B, the positive clones were subcultured. The telomerase activity was detected by RT-PCR and TRAP-PCR technique. The cell generation cycle and apoptosis rate were detected by flow cytometry to investigate the proliferative characteristics after transfection, and the chromosome karyotype of transformed cells was analyzed. The collagen secreted by transformed cells was detected by immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: The morphological properties of fibroblasts did not change obviously after transfection. There were telomerase activity in transfected fibroblasts, while it could not be detected in pre-transfection fibroblasts. The cell generation cycle had no obvious changes between pre-transfection and post-transfection. However, the apoptosis rate of transfected fibroblasts were decreased compared with that of pre-transfection. The fibroblasts transfected by pGRN145 maintained the normal diploid karyotype, as well as the cells could normally secret type I and III collagen. CONCLUSION: The human fibroblasts transfected by pGRN145 has telomerase activity with prolonged life span of culture, which preliminarily proves the availability of establishing standard seeding cell lines of tissue engineering by hTERT plasmid transfection techniques.
Objective To observe the effect of gene expression of p53 and the polymorphism of p53 gene codon 72 on cl inical phenotype of keloids. Methods The tissue and blood samples were taken from 35 patients with keloids, 19 males and 16 females, and the course of disease was from 4 months to 8 years. Meanwhile, autologous peripheral blood was collected for genotype analysis. According to the observing scope, the tissue samples of the keloids were divided into 2 groups: the central group involving the central part of the keloids (the central area within two-thirds of the radius) and the peripheral group involving the peripheral part of the keloids (the peripheral area within one-third of the radius). According to the largest diameter of the keloids, the two groups were divided into 3 subgroups: the small size group with 5 patients (lt; 1 cm), the medium size group with 21 patients (1-3 cm) and the large size group with 9 patients (gt; 3 cm). DNA of the tissue and blood samples were extracted, and the PCR followed by DNA sequencing was used to detect the polymorphism of p53 gene codon 72. The expression change of P53 was detected by immunohistochemical staining. The fibroblast apoptosis in keloid tissues was detected by TUNEL method. Results The genetic genotype of p53 gene codon 72 in keloids included Arg/Arg in 7 cases, Pro/Arg in 21 cases, Pro/ Pro in 7 cases. The significant correlation was found between genotype and cl inical phenotype (P lt; 0.05). Immunohistochemical staining revealed that P53 was detectable in peripheral and central groups of small-medium size keloids and central groups keloids, and detectable in few cells in peripheral groups of large size keloids. The absorbency value was 3 439.359 8 ± 538.527 5 in Arg/Arg genotype, 3 273.186 2 ± 375.213 9 in Arg/Pro genotype, 1 691.372 9 ± 98.989 3 in Pro/Pro genotype. There weresignificant differences among the three genotypes (P lt; 0.05). The fibroblast apoptosis was detected by TUNEL, and the apoptotic cells were evenly distributed. The apoptosis index was 31.000 0 ± 3.266 0 in peripheral group of large size keloids, 42.300 0 ± 4.354 8 in peripheral group of medium size keloids, 44.600 0 ± 5.253 6 in peripheral group of small size keloids. There were significant differences among the three groups (P lt; 0.05). Conclusion There is close relationshi p between the cl inical phenotype of keloids and the expression of P53. The polymorphism variation of p53 gene codon 2 is beneficial for apoptosis of fibroblasts in keloids.
Objective To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-A （VEGF-A） and the phenotypic transition after the activation of fibroblasts by the supernatant of cultured tumor cells．Methods The growth tendency of fibroblasts was tested by the MTT assay．The expressions of alpha-smooth muscle actin （α-SMA） and VEGF-A mRNA were tested by RT-PCR．The expressions of α-SMA and VEGF-A protein were tested by immunohistochemistry and Western blot．Results The MTT assay indicated that the conditional medium which contained tumor cells supernatant could obviously promote the growth of the fibroblasts． RT-PCR and Western blot manifested that α-SMA expressed by the fibroblasts which cultured by normal medium reached its peak on day 5，then decreased to a low level on day 7．When the medium contained 2 ng/ml transforming growth factor-β1 （TGF-β1），the fibroblasts could steadily express more α-SMA．But the above two mediums could not make the fibroblasts express the VEGF-A. When using the conditional medium，the α-SMA peak advanced on the third day and maintained at a high level，so as the expression of the VEGF-A．Conclusions The results suggested that fibroblasts can be activated to be myofibroblasts when using the conditional medium．The best activation time of the fibroblasts is consistent with the time of the VEGF-A expression at the highest level by the activated fibroblasts．The fibroblasts which activated at the best time are expected to become a kind of cells which can be used for promoting revascularization．
Objective To investigate the growth, expansion, and metabolic characteristics of the human dermal fibroblasts cultured in a bioreactor with batch and medium exchange modes. Methods Human dermal fibroblasts separated from foreskin were seeded into a 1.5 liter CelliGen bioreactor with 5mg/ml of microcarriers. The cell growth, glucose consumption and lactate accumulation in both batch and medium exchange cultures were measured. Results The growth density of fibroblasts cultured in the bioreactor with medium-exchange mode reached 2.08×106 cell/ml, expande 29.7 folds, which was 1.81 times as high as that in batch culture. By comparison with the results obtained in T-flasks and spinners under the same medium-exchange conditions, the cell density in the bioreactor was 9.16 and 1.43 times as high as those in T-flasks and spinners respectively owing to that the limitation effect the attachment surface, nutrient exhaust, and by-product accumulation on the growth of fibroblasts in the bioreactor by using microcarriers, medium-exchange, as well as gas aeration was elimnated. Conclution The above results indicate that suspended cultures with microcarriers in bioreactors are an effective approach to rpovide large amounts of seeding cells for tissue engineering.
