title: Human corneal epithelial cell response to substrate stiffness.
abstract: It has been reported that mechanical stimulus can affect cellular behavior. While induced differentiation in stem cells and proliferation and directional migration in fibroblasts are reported as responses to mechanical stimuli, little is known about the response of cells from the cornea. In the present study, we investigated whether changes in substrate stiffness (measured by elastic modulus) affected the behavior of human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs). Polyacrylamide substrates with different elastic moduli (compliant, medium and stiff) were prepared and HCECs were cultured on them. HCECs responses, including cell viability, apoptosis, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression, integrin-α3β1 expression and changes in cytoskeleton structure (actin fibers) and migratory behavior, were studied. No statistically significant cell activation, as measured by ICAM-1 expression, was observed. However, on compliant substrates, a higher number of cells were found to be apoptotic and disrupted actin fibers were observed. Furthermore, cells displayed a statistically significant lower migration speed on compliant substrates when compared with the stiffer substrates. Thus, corneal epithelial cells respond to changes in substrate stiffness, which may have implications in the understanding and perhaps treatment of corneal diseases, such as keratoconus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Molladavoodi
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Hyock-Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Medley
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada; School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada. Electronic address: mgorbet@uwaterloo.ca.
authors.forename: Maud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gorbet
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000502:physiology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D000099166:Polyacrylamides
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D000099166:Polyacrylamides
keywords: Cell migration; Human corneal epithelial cells; Mechanotransduction; Polyacrylamide; Time lapse imaging