Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. The Nano-Scale Mechanical Properties of the Extracellular Matrix Regulate Dermal Fibroblast Function
 
research article

The Nano-Scale Mechanical Properties of the Extracellular Matrix Regulate Dermal Fibroblast Function

Achterberg, Volker F.
•
Buscemi, Lara  
•
Diekmann, Heike
Show more
2014
Journal Of Investigative Dermatology

Changes in the mechanical properties of dermis occur during skin aging or tissue remodeling and affect the activity of resident fibroblasts. With the aim to establish elastic culture substrates that reproduce the variable softness of dermis, we determined Young's elastic modulus E of human dermis at the cell perception level using atomic force microscopy. The E of dermis ranged from 0.1 to 10 kPa, varied depending on body area and dermal layer, and tended to increase with age in 26-55-year-old donors. The activation state of human dermal fibroblasts cultured on "skin-soft" E (5 kPa) silicone culture substrates was compared with stiff plastic culture (GPa), collagen gel cultures (0.1-9 kPa), and fresh human dermal tissue. Fibroblasts cultured on skin-soft silicones displayed low mRNA levels of fibrosis-associated genes and increased expression of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) MMP-1 and MMP-3 as compared with collagen gel and plastic cultures. The activation profile exhibited by fibroblasts on "skin-soft" silicone culture substrates was most comparable with that of human dermis than any other tested culture condition. Hence, providing biomimetic mechanical conditions generates fibroblasts that are more suitable to investigate physiologically relevant cell processes than fibroblasts spontaneously activated by stiff conventional culture surfaces.

  • Details
  • Metrics
Type
research article
DOI
10.1038/jid.2014.90
Web of Science ID

WOS:000337333000015

Author(s)
Achterberg, Volker F.
Buscemi, Lara  
Diekmann, Heike
Smith-Clerc, Josiane  
Schwengler, Helge
Meister, Jean-Jacques  
Wenck, Horst
Gallinat, Stefan
Hinz, Boris
Date Issued

2014

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Published in
Journal Of Investigative Dermatology
Volume

134

Issue

7

Start page

1862

End page

1872

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LCB  
Available on Infoscience
August 29, 2014
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/106391
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés