An experimental system has been developed to examine the prostaglandin (PG) production induced by tensile mechanical forces in bone cells cultured on collagen ribbons. Fetal rat calvaria cells (osteoblast-enriched) were grown on collagen ribbons. The collagen ribbons were stretched under culture conditions in a machine that recorded force and displacement. Repeated stretching of the collagen ribbons (8 times, 5–10%, over 2 hours) increased the rate of prostaglandin synthesis approximately 3.5-fold over that of cells on nonstretched ribbons. This system should provide a suitable method to quantitatively study the effect of mechanical forces on various parameters of PG synthesis.
Keywords:
Mechanical force; Bone cells; Prostaglandins