Living extracellular matrix

Kozel, B.A, Ciliberto, C. H., and Mecham, R. P. (2004). Deposition of tropoelastin into the extracellular matrix requires a competent elastic fiber scaffold but not live cells. Matrix Biol. 23, 23-34. 

Fibroblasts live in the spaces between other cells and secrete the proteins of the extracellular matrix, e.g. collagen. They do not associate tightly with one another or with other cell types, but they do readily attach themselves to a substratum. In dilute culture they are observed as individual spindle shaped cells which move around the surface of the culture vessel avoiding each other. As their density increases they tend to align themselves in parallel assays (Fig. 2.1). However, fibroblasts can become chondrocytes or adipocytes in the appropriate environment (Taylor and Jones, 1979) and on transformation ( 2.2) they readily lose their contact inhibition and pile up on top of one another (Fig. 2.1)... 

Kumar, S., Maxwell, I.Z., Heisterkamp, A., Polte, T.R., Lele, T.P., Salanga, M., Mazur, E. and Ingber, D.E. (2006) Viscoelastic retraction of single living stress fibers and its impact on cell shape, cytoskeletal organization, and extracellular matrix mechanics. Biophys. J., 90, 3762-3773. 

D. E. Viscoelastic retraction of single living stress fibers and its impact on ceU shape, cytoskeletal organization, and extracellular matrix mechanics. Biophys J 90, i762-yn i, 2006. 

FIGURE 1 The merger of living cells and microsystems engineering involves control of three key ingredients of cellular environment, namely, cells, extracellular matrix, and soluble factors. 

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