Abstract
Several reports suggest that cell aggregation is important in the course of tissue regeneration or development. The cell aggregation is thought to be affected by direct contact such as cell-material interaction and/or cell-cell interaction and by indirect effects such as substance diffusion. In this study, we estimated whether cells in distant places have an effect on each other or not, and observed cartilage cell movement on fibroin and fibronectin by using time-lapse microscopic recordings. The cellular behavior was analyzed by comparing the relation between cell density distribution and direction of cell migration to the Moore neighborhood referring to the Bonnet's method. The results suggest that the direction of cartilage cell migration seems to have no relation to cell density distribution regardless of cell aggregation behavior. Judging from our previous report showing that aggregation rate and cell-cell adhesion rate of chondrocyte are much higher on fibroin than on fibronectin, the chondrocytic aggregate formation characteristically observed on the fibroin surface may be attributed to cell-cell adhesion.
