Macromolecular crowding regulates matrix composition and gene expression in human gingival fibroblast cultures.

ABSTRACT: Standard cell cultures are performed in aqueous media with a low macromolecule concentration compared to tissue microenvironment. In macromolecular crowding (MMC) experiments, synthetic polymeric crowders are added into cell culture media to better mimic macromolecule concentrations found in vivo. However, their effect on cultured cells is incompletely understood and appears context-dependent. Here we show using human gingival fibroblasts, a cell type associated with fast and scarless wound healing, that MMC (standard medium supplemented with Ficoll 70/400) potently modulates fibroblast phenotype and extracellular matrix (ECM) composition compared to standard culture media (nMMC) over time. MMC significantly reduced cell numbers, but increased accumulation of collagen I, cellular fibronect

SUBMITTER: Ramalingam R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9899282 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature