Long-standing diabetes can result in the development of cardiomyopathy, which can be accompanied by myocardial fibrosis. Although exposure of cultured kidney and skin fibroblasts to high glucose (HG) concentration is known to increase collagen synthesis, little is known about cardiac fibroblasts (CFs). Therefore, we determined the influence of HG conditions on CF functions and the effects of lo...

I . The effect of folic acid deficiency on collagen formation, with respect to the level of collagen-protein synthesis and the extent of collagen-proline hydroxylation, has been studied. A folic acid-free diet containing 10 g sulphasuxidine/kg was used to induce folate deficiency in young male rats. Animals were judged folic acid-deficient on the grounds of retardation of growth, characteristic...

Corneal transparency is dependent upon the development of an organized extracellular matrix containing small diameter collagen fibrils with regular spacing, organized as orthogonal lamellae. Proteoglycan-collagen interactions have been implicated in the regulation of collagen fibrillogenesis and matrix assembly. To determine the role of dermatan sulfate proteoglycan in the development and organ...

Corneal transparency is dependent upon the development of an organized extracellular matrix containing small diameter collagen fibrils with regular spacing, organized as orthogonal lamellae. Proteoglycan-collagen interactions have been implicated in the regulation of collagen fibrillogenesis and matrix assembly. To determine the role of dermatan sulfate proteoglycan in the development and organ...

Arterial smooth muscle cells synthesize matrix macromolecules in response to mechanical stimulation. Exposure to serum lipids also stimulates connective tissue fiber accumulation. To assess the effect of serum lipids on the biosynthetic response to tensile stress, we subjected rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells that were cultured on purified elastin membranes to cyclic stretching and relaxation ...

In vitro mechanical conditioning has been demonstrated to be of critical importance in the tissue engineering of cardiovascular substitutes, i.e. vascular grafts and heart valves. Therefore, after static culturing, cell seeded constructs are placed in a bioreactor and subjected to pulsatile loading conditions. The objective is to stimulate cell proliferation and differentiation as well as extra...