Keloidal cells gets elongated in response to topography

The application of tissue or cell culture to investigate keloid scars involves isolating fibroblasts from excised keloid tissue as well as propagating them in the laboratory by utilizing exogenous nutrients and growth media¹. This process is followed in order to analyze the individual biological pathways, processes and molecules.

However, isolating the cells from their environment may also have some restrictions as well. Ideal and often different physiological conditions including abundance amount of nutrients, perfect pH, temperature as well as gases are needed for propagation of the cells. Accordingly, in most of the keloid scare tissue culture models, serum is employed. Yet, the wound environment that gives rise to keloid scars is one exposed to the biological factors contained².

Moreover, biological cells are also strongly affected by the topography of the surface on which they reside. They are guided along micron sized grooves and alter their shape to become more elongated³. Consequently, these effects can be utilized for cellular engineering to evaluate the behavior of cells and in particular to generate prostheses for medical purposes⁴.

Considering this situation, researchers gets motivated and conducted a new study in order to investigate the in vitro behaviors of keloidal and hypertrophic cells by applying morphometeric study as well as tissue engineering procedures. In case of successful accomplishment of these techniques,a novel alternative way in keloid management can be developed⁵.

For this purpose, scientists obtained the human keloid samples from patients that were employed as raw materials to isolate human fibroblasts from keloid as well as normal skin. However, the normal human specimens (human skin fibroblasts) were obtained from King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, after circumcision operations.

During this study, the tissue engineering outcomes determine that there is significant amplification in the cell length when cultured on topography. On the other hand, morphometic examinationshowsthat keloidal cells are shorter as compared to normal fibroblasts, whereas keloidal cells adhere to grooved topography found to be longer in comparison with normal fibroblasts. Conclusively, this study revealed that keloidal cells response to topography by aligned and increase in length.

References:

1. Cohen, K.I. and B.A. Mast, 1990. Models of wound healing. J. Trauma, 1: S149-S154.
2. Brunette, D.M., 1986. Fibroblasts on micromachined substrata orient hierarchically grooves of different dimensions. Exp. Cell Res., 164: 11-26.
3. Clark, P., P. Connolly, A.S.G. Curtis, J.A.T. Dow and C.D.W. Wilkinson, 1991. Cell guidance by ultrafine topography in vitro. Cell Sci., 99: 73-77.
4. Wilkinson, A.H.F. and F. Schut, 1998. Digital Images Analysis of Microbes, Imaging Morphometry Fluorometry and Motility Techniques and Applications. John Wiley and Sons, UK., pp: 3-89.
5. Faten A. Khorsid , 2007. Morphometery and Tissue Engineering Studies 0f Keloidal Cells. Asian J. Cell Biol., 2: 54-64.