Mechanical modelling of cell/ECM and cell/cell interactions during the contraction of a fibroblast-populated collagen microsphere: theory and model simulation

The cell-derived forces generated during wound healing may be beneficial in reducing the wound size by contraction, but are also detrimental because of the high mechanical stresses in and around the scar that can cause pain, disfigurement and loss of tissue function. The fibroblasts seeded collagen matrix is regarded as an in vitro model for this process and as a suitable way to study these mechanical aspects which are poorly understood. It is proposed here, to improve the continuum theory of Murray–Oster by assuming that more than one control system may be operative in wound contraction regulation. In particular, it is suggested that the wound contraction mechanism is not exclusively due to cell/ECM interaction forces but rather that both ECM/cell and the cell/cell interactions operate together in such process.