title: Type V collagen synthesis and deposition by chicken embryo corneal fibroblasts in vitro.
abstract: Chick embryo corneal fibroblasts were grown in culture to study the processes whereby fibroblasts regulate the deposition and organization of the collagenous, secondary stroma. The effects of an existing type I collagen substratum, cell density, and serum concentration on type V collagen synthesis were investigated. Type V collagen represented approximately 20% of the total fibrillar collagen synthesized, regardless of whether the cells were subcultured, grown on untreated or collagen-coated plastic, grown under confluent or subconfluent conditions, or grown in the presence of low (0.1%) or high (10.0%) serum concentrations. The synthesis of type V collagen remained constant at 20% of the total collagen when cells were grown in 1.0% serum, even though total collagen synthesis increased nearly twofold when compared to total synthesis in 0.1% or 10.0% serum. Immunocytochemistry with anti-collagen, type-specific monoclonal antibodies revealed a homogeneous population of cells synthesizing types I and V collagen. The fibrils deposited by cells grown in a three-dimensional collagen matrix contained a helical epitope on the type V molecule that was inaccessible unless the fibrillar structure was disrupted, mimicking the situation in situ. The production in vitro of heterotypic fibrils, with a constant I/V ratio and molecular packing mimicking the natural stroma, offers opportunities for studying in more detail this important process, which is essential for optical transparency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway 08854.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Linsenmayer
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Birk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002642:Chick Embryo; D003094:Collagen / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D003315:Cornea / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen