Activation of Fibroblast Contractility via Cell-Cell Interactions and Soluble Signals

Neha Pincha; Dyuti Saha; Tanay Bhatt; Ravindra K Zirmire; Colin Jamora

doi:10.21769/BioProtoc.3021

Activation of Fibroblast Contractility via Cell-Cell Interactions and Soluble Signals

Bio Protoc. 2018 Sep 20;8(18):e3021. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3021.

Authors

Neha Pincha^{1

2}, Dyuti Saha^{1

2}, Tanay Bhatt^{1

3}, Ravindra K Zirmire^{1

4}, Colin Jamora¹

Affiliations

¹ IFOM-inStem Joint Research Laboratory, Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
² Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
³ National Centre for Biological Sciences, GKVK Post, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
⁴ Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy (SASTRA) University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India.

Abstract

The collagen contraction assay is an in vitro, three-dimensional method to determine the factor(s) affecting the contractile behavior of activated cells such as fibroblasts in either physiological or pathological scenarios. The collagen lattices/hydrogels are seeded with fibroblasts to mimic the interactions between these cells and their surrounding extracellular matrix proteins in the connective tissue. This method is an important platform to assess components as potential therapeutic targets to prevent pathologies such as fibrosis, which are manifestations of hyperactivated fibroblasts. We have described a basic version of this collagen contraction assay, which is amenable to customization using different cell types under diverse experimental conditions.

Keywords: Collagen contraction; Collagen lattice/hydrogel; Fibroblast; Fibrosis; Mast cell.