Skip to main content
PMC home page
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases logoLink to Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
. 1987 May;46(5):385–390. doi: 10.1136/ard.46.5.385

Isolation and growth characteristics of adult human tendon fibroblasts.

M D Chard, J K Wright, B L Hazleman
PMCID: PMC1002146  PMID: 3592800

Abstract

An explant method for the isolation of fibroblasts from adult human tendon is described. Cells were successfully isolated from 22 out of 27 common biceps tendons obtained from cadaveric donors (age range 11-83 years). The fibroblasts could be maintained in culture using standard methods and morphologically resembled those of synovial rather than dermal origin. Growth characteristics of 12 cell lines were assessed by deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) synthesis using [3H]thymidine incorporation in response to stimulation by fetal calf serum. Cells obtained separately from superficial and deep parts of the tendons produced almost identical responses. No significant reduction in growth response with increasing age was found when related to the age of the donor. Therefore this study did not show any age related defect in the short term tendon fibroblast replicative responses to serum.

Full text

PDF
390

Images in this article

386Image
on p.386
387Image
on p.387

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Becker H., Graham M. F., Cohen I. K., Diegelmann R. F. Intrinsic tendon cell proliferation in tissue culture. J Hand Surg Am. 1981 Nov;6(6):616–619. doi: 10.1016/s0363-5023(81)80146-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Conrad G. W., Hart G. W., Chen Y. Differences in vitro between fibroblast-like cells from cornea, heart, and skin of embryonic chicks. J Cell Sci. 1977 Aug;26:119–137. doi: 10.1242/jcs.26.1.119. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gelberman R. H., Manske P. R., Vande Berg J. S., Lesker P. A., Akeson W. H. Flexor tendon repair in vitro: a comparative histologic study of the rabbit, chicken, dog, and monkey. J Orthop Res. 1984;2(1):39–48. doi: 10.1002/jor.1100020107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Goldstein S., Moerman E. J., Soeldner J. S., Gleason R. E., Barnett D. M. Chronologic and physiologic age affect replicative life-span of fibroblasts from diabetic, prediabetic, and normal donors. Science. 1978 Feb 17;199(4330):781–782. doi: 10.1126/science.622567. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Graham M. F., Becker H., Cohen I. K., Merritt W., Diegelmann R. F. Intrinsic tendon fibroplasia: documentation by in vitro studies. J Orthop Res. 1984;1(3):251–256. doi: 10.1002/jor.1100010304. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Graham M. F., Diegelmann R. F., Cohen I. K. An in vitro model of fibroplasia: simultaneous quantification of fibroblast proliferation, migration, and collagen synthesis. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1984 Jul;176(3):302–308. doi: 10.3181/00379727-176-41875. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Ketchum L. D. Primary tendon healing: a review. J Hand Surg Am. 1977 Nov;2(6):428–435. doi: 10.1016/s0363-5023(77)80023-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Lemonnier F., Gautier M., Wolfrom C., Lemonnier A. Some metabolic differences between human skin and aponeurosis fibroblasts in culture. J Cell Physiol. 1980 Sep;104(3):415–423. doi: 10.1002/jcp.1041040314. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Manske P. R., Gelberman R. H., Vande Berg J. S., Lesker P. A. Intrinsic flexor-tendon repair. A morphological study in vitro. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1984 Mar;66(3):385–396. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Manske P. R., Lesker P. A. Biochemical evidence of flexor tendon participation in the repair process--an in vitro study. J Hand Surg Br. 1984 Jun;9(2):117–120. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Manske P. R., Lesker P. A. Histologic evidence of intrinsic flexor tendon repair in various experimental animals. An in vitro study. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1984 Jan-Feb;(182):297–304. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. POTENZA A. D. CRITICAL EVALUATION OF FLEXOR-TENDON HEALING AND ADHESION FORMATION WITHIN ARTIFICIAL DIGITAL SHEATHS. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1963 Sep;45:1217–1233. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. POTENZA A. D. Tendon healing within the flexor digital sheath in the dog. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1962 Jan;44-A:49–64. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Palotie A. Effect of elevated temperature on the intracellular degradation of different collagen types. Coll Relat Res. 1983 Mar;3(2):105–113. doi: 10.1016/s0174-173x(83)80037-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rank F., Eiken O., Bergenholtz A., Lundborg G., Erkel L. J. Flexor tendon specimens in organ cultures. Scand J Plast Reconstr Surg. 1980;14(2):179–183. doi: 10.3109/02844318009106706. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Riederer-Henderson M. A., Gauger A., Olson L., Robertson C., Greenlee T. K., Jr Attachment and extracellular matrix differences between tendon and synovial fibroblastic cells. In Vitro. 1983 Feb;19(2):127–133. doi: 10.1007/BF02621896. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Rowe D. W., Starman B. J., Fujimoto W. Y., Williams R. H. Abnormalities in proliferation and protein synthesis in skin fibroblast cultures from patients with diabetes mellitus. Diabetes. 1977 Apr;26(4):284–290. doi: 10.2337/diab.26.4.284. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Schneider E. L., Mitsui Y., Au K. S., Shorr S. S. Tissue-specific differences in cultured human diploid fibroblasts. Exp Cell Res. 1977 Aug;108(1):1–6. doi: 10.1016/s0014-4827(77)80002-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sly W. S., Grubb J. Isolation of fibroblasts from patients. Methods Enzymol. 1979;58:444–450. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(79)58159-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Taylor C. M., Oelbaum R. S., Grant M. E. The biosynthesis of glycoproteins by cultured bovine tendon fibroblasts. Connect Tissue Res. 1982;10(3-4):319–331. doi: 10.3109/03008208209008057. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Tolstoshev P., Haber R., Trapnell B. C., Crystal R. G. Procollagen messenger RNA levels and activity and collagen synthesis during the fetal development of sheep lung, tendon, and skin. J Biol Chem. 1981 Sep 25;256(18):9672–9679. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Verdan C. E. Half a century of flexor-tendon surgery. Current status and changing philosophies. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1972 Apr;54(3):472–491. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES