A Uniaxial Cell Stretcher In Vitro Model Simulating Tissue Expansion of Plastic Surgery

BACKGROUND: Both in vivo and in vitro, cells are subjected to mechanical stress, which can affect their proliferation and differentiation. However, the detailed mechanisms of the accompanying morphologic and biochemical changes remain elusive. This is partially caused by the lack of suitable stretch model and method that mimic soft tissue expansion used in plastic surgery. In this study, we report the development of a novel model for uniaxial stretch cell mimicking tissue expansion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fibroblasts, grown in plastic culture caskets, were stretched in a progressive and accumulative manner lasting from 1 to 4 days. Cell proliferation was measured using the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay and the Western blot analysis of cell cycle proteins. RESULTS: Following the stretch protocol, fibroblasts elongated and aligned parallel to each other and to the applied strain vectors. Furthermore, stretch-stimulated cell proliferation was compared with the unstretched conditions. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that this uniaxial cell stretcher device and the accumulative stretch method are a suitable system for mimicking the tissue expansion process used in clinical applications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Not gradable.