Stress effects on cellular metabolism in soft tissue substitutes

The use of a collagen sponge as a three-dimensional lattice onto which fibroblastic cells are seeded for wound healing applications has been studied. Chick tendon fibroblasts were seeded onto a 2-cm/sup 2/ three-dimensional collagen matrix at 1.5*10/sup 6/ cells/cm/sup 2/ and cultured for 7 or 14 days. External loads of 0, 10 and 15 g were applied to this soft tissue composite. DNA and protein synthesis were measured to estimate the effect of the applied load on cellular metabolism. In 14-day cultures application of a 15-g load for 4 hrs to the collagen composite did not change cell number per square centimeter of sponge, but it increased protein synthesis. After 24-hr loading with 15 g, total cell number increased from 5.5*10/sup 6/ in controls to 7.9*10/sup 6/.<>