Behavior of fibroblasts on amniotic membrane with adjusted elasticity by imposing tensile stress

Abstract

Tissue-engineered constructs hold three elements: cells, bioactive factors, and scaffolds. Scaffolds function not only as passive culture substrates but also as active partner interacting with the cells. For example, the elasticity of polyacrylamide gel can determine the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. However, it is difficult to regulate solely the elasticity of the culture substrates. In this study, we took the advantages of the non-linear mechanical characteristics of porcine amniotic membrane (pAM) to adjust its elasticity by imposing different tensile stresses on the pAM and examined influence to the behavior of the rat embryonic fibroblasts cultured on it. The elasticity of pAM was set at 30 kPa (the slack state), 500 kPa, 1000 kPa, and 2000 kPa, respectively. As a result, cell adhesion ratio, cellular area, and aspect ratio tended to decrease as the elasticity increased; whereas cell growth rate tended to increase.