DEVELOPMENT OF ANISOTROPY IN FIBROBLAST POPULATED COLLAGEN GELS

摘要

The development of anisotropic mechanical properties is critical for the successful tissue engineering of many soft tissues. Load bearing tissues naturally develop varying degrees of anisotropy, presumably in response to their specific loading environment. For example, the heart wall develops a collagen structure that varies in a predictable manner through its depth. Tendon, on the other hand, develops a matrix that does not vary much in orientation and is highly aligned in the direction of muscle loading. These varied levels of anisotropy may be due to inherent differences between the cells in each tissue, to differences in the mechanical load and boundary conditions seen by the cells, or to a combination of these factors. The goal of this study is to understand the development of anisotropy in fibroblast populated collagen gels, with the ultimate goal of controlling this anisotropy for tissue engineering applications. In this study we set out to: 1) quantitatively determine the mechanical properties of gels in response to anisotropic external constraints, 2) determine whether this response is cell type specific, 3) determine whether the cells align with the direction of constraint, and 4) determine whether the collagen is realigned with the direction of constraint.