Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Continual Cell Deformation Induced Via Attachment To Oriented Fibers Enhances Fibroblast Cell Migration, Sisi Qin, Vincent Ricotta, Marcia Simon, Richard A. F. Clark, Miriam Rafailovich

Department of Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Fibroblast migration is critical to the wound healing process. In vivo, migration occurs on fibrillar substrates, and previous observations have shown that a significant time lag exists before the onset of granulation tissue. We therefore conducted a series of experiments to understand the impact of both fibrillar morphology and migration time. Substrate topography was first shown to have a profound influence. Fibroblasts preferentially attach to fibrillar surfaces, and orient their cytoplasm for maximal contact with the fiber edge. In the case of en-mass cell migration out of an agarose droplet, fibroblasts on flat surfaces emerged with an enhanced velocity, v …