Continuous exposure to simulated hypergravity-induced changes in proliferation, morphology, and gene expression of human tendon cells

R. Costa-Almeida, D.T.O. Carvalho, M.J.S. Ferreira, T. Pesqueira, M. Monici, J.J.W.A. van Loon, P.L. Granja, M.E. Gomes

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Gravity influences physical and biological processes, especially during development and homeostasis of several tissues in the human body. Studies under altered gravity have been receiving great attention toward a better understanding of microgravity-, hypogravity (<1 g)-, or hypergravity (>1 g)-induced alterations. In this work, the influence of simulated hypergravity over human tendon-derived cells (hTDCs) was studied at 5, 10, 15, and 20 g for 4 or 16 h, using a large diameter centrifuge. Main results showed that 16 h of simulated hypergravity limited cell proliferation. Cell area was higher in hTDCs cultured at 5, 10, and 15 g for 16 h, in comparison to 1 g control. Actin filaments were more pronounced in hTDCs cultured at 5 and 10 g for 16 h. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) was mainly expressed in focal adhesion sites upon hypergravity stimulation, in comparison to perinuclear localization in control cells after 16 h; and FAK number/cell increased with increasing g-levels. A tendency toward an upregulation of tenogenic markers was observed; scleraxis (SCX), tenascin C (TNC), collagen type III (COL3A1), and decorin (DCN) were significantly upregulated in hTDCs cultured at 15 g and COL3A1 and DCN were significantly upregulated in hTDCs cultured at 20 g. Overall, simulated hypergravity affected the behavior of hTDCs, with more pronounced effects in the long-term period (16 h) of stimulation.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)858-869
JournalStem cells and development
Volume27
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Funding

The authors would like to thank Hospital da Prelada (Porto, Portugal) for providing tendon tissue samples. The authors would like to acknowledge Portuguese funds from FCT-Fundac¸ão para a Ciência e Tecnologia in the framework of FCT-POPH-FSE for the PhD grant (SFRH/BD/96593/2013 of R.C-A) and the consolidator grant (IF/00593/2015) of M.E.G. Authors also thank to the project RL3-TECT-NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000020 cofinanced by ON.2 under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

FundersFunder number
FCT-POPH-FSEIF/00593/2015, RL3-TECT-NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000020, SFRH/BD/96593/2013
National Strategic Reference Framework
Fundo Regional para a Ciência e Tecnologia
European Regional Development Fund

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