Cells in Gels: A Disease-Like Morphology for Chondrocytes

In their new article Karim & Hall demonstrate a direct link between gel stiffness and the morphology of chondrocytes. 

In soft gels cellular morphology (density, volume) and clustering is more akin to that seen in osteoarthritis (OA). Increased concentrations of fetal calf serum (FCS) further influenced this effect.

The authors surmise that the softer gels might offer higher permeance for soluble factors in the FCS that lead to the observed changes.

These findings may be important in understanding the impact of ECM on OA and related cartilage damage as well as for tissue engineering.

The far-red DNA probe DRAQ5 was used to aid the cellular volume measurements alongside propidium iodide and calculated in Volocity(TM) software.

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Article:

Karim, Asima, and Andrew C. Hall. "Chondrocyte Morphology in Stiff and Soft Agarose Gels and the Influence of Fetal Calf Serum." Journal of Cellular Physiology (2016). 

Read it here:
http://tinyurl.com/gmcp25p