Differentiation of fibroblast through NGF by uniaxial tension

Abstract

Mechanical tension plays an important role in the homeostasis of connective tissue fibroblast. Differentiation of fibroblast to myofibroblasts is related to late stage of wound healing process, stimulating fibroblast to produce collagen. Previous studies have shown that the external NGF induces a-SMA expression in conjunctival fibroblasts through TGF-β1. Our previous data shows that both NGF and TGF transcription exhibit tensile stress dependent behavior which could lead to enhancement of wound healing. We investigate the effects of uniaxial tensile stress on the expression of a-SMA, distinction between fibroblast and myofibroblast, through increase of NGF. Uniaxial tension lead to a-SMA express on the fibroblast and external NGF and TGF treatment induces stress fiber containing α-SMA. Our results may imply that the induction of a-SMA is a consequence of regulation of NGF and TGF by uniaxial tension in fibroblasts.