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ARTICLE

Morphologies of Fibronectin Fibrils Formed under Shear Conditions and Their Cellular Adhesiveness Properties

Phuong-Thao Nguyen-Thi¹, Quoc Phong Le¹, Volker R. Stoldt², Ngoc Quyen Tran^3,4, Anh Tho Le⁵, Khon Huynh^1,*

1 School of Biomedical Engineering, International University, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh, 70000, Vietnam
2 Department of General Visceral and Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital and Medical Faculty of the Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, 40225, Germany
3 Graduate University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh, 70000, Vietnam
4 Institute of Applied Materials Science, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh, 70000, Vietnam
5 Faculty of Medicine, Hong Bang International University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

* Corresponding Author: Khon Huynh. Email:

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics 2020, 17(3), 113-118. https://doi.org/10.32604/mcb.2020.09643

Received 12 January 2020; Accepted 21 March 2020; Issue published 01 July 2020

Abstract

Fibrillar fibronectin (FFN) is a biological active form of FN which form linear and branched meshwork around cells and support cellular activities. Previous studies have demonstrated that shear stress can induce cell-free FN fibrillogenesis. In this study, we further examined the effect of shear stress conditions on morphology of formed FFN and preliminarily looked for relationship between FFN’s morphology and cell adhesion. Plasma FN at 50 µg/ml was perfused through channel slides at shear rates of 500 s^-1 or 4000 s^-1. Our results showed that there were four FFN structures formed: (1) FN nodules, (2) fibril in different sizes (3) with or without nodule attachment, and (4) fibrillar matrix. At 4000 s^-1, FFN fibrils was formed within the first 10 min and reached the highest surface coverage only after 20 min. In contrast, FFN formation was significant more slowly at 500 s^-1 at which only FN nodules and small fibrils were formed. Platelets bound on thin layer of FN and rarely found on large FN fibrils. In contrast, fibroblast stretched their shape on platform of FFN matrix and bound actively to all types of FFNs. Taken together, our data suggests a morphological dependent biological activity of FFN.

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Keywords

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