<Original Article>Preservation of rat palatal scar tissue myofibroblasts in organ culture

抄録

In order to modulate palatal scar tissue, especially its myofibroblastic component, there is a pressing need for an in vitro model of this tissue. In the present, study we established an organ culture model of the rat palatal scar tissue. After excision of palatal mucoperiosteum, explants from the developing immature scar tissue and from the normal palatal mucosa were used to observe myofibroblasts in vivo and their maintenance in organ culture. Explants were cultured at the gasliquid interface in serum-free Waymouth's MB 752/1 medium and in a humid atmosphere contain­ing 55% O₂/5% C0₂ in air at 37℃ for 3 days. Viability of the cultured explants was evaluated with morphological and histological criteria and BrdU incorporation. After organ culture, the scar tissue showed good preservation of the in vivo histology. The myofibroblasts and smooth muscle cells of the cultured scar tissues showed continu­ous expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin （α-SMA), mimicking the in vivo situation. In the normal tissues, only smooth muscle cells of the blood vessels expressed α-SMA. These results demon­strate that the established model provides a useful in vitro experimental tool for investigating the palatal scar tissue in general and its myofibroblasts in particular.