Abstract
The present study was designed to investigate the expression of type I, III and VI collagens by a fibroblast cell line initiated from a hypertrophic scar. The same tissue has previously been demonstrated to display markedly elevated expression of type I and III collagen mRNAs in vivo. Unexpectedly, slot-blot and Northern hybridizations revealed a barely detectable steady-state level of proα1(III) collagen chain mRNA in cultured hypertrophic scar fibroblasts. The levels of proα1(I) and α2(VI) collagen chain mRNAs were essentially the same in fibroblasts cultured from hypertrophic scar and in fibroblasts cultured from normal skin. However, Northern blot analyses indicated that the ratio of 5.8 kb to 4.8 kb species of proα1(I) collagen mRNA was slightly reduced in fibroblasts originating from the hypertrophic scar compared to that in normal fibroblasts. When normal fibroblasts were incubated in conditioned medium from hypertrophic scar cultures, the expression of proα1(III) collagen chain mRNA decreased to a markedly lower level. Our studies suggest that collagen synthesis by fibroblasts in hypertrophic scars is stimulated by humoral factors which are active only in vivo. Furthermore, the results suggest that fibroblasts cultured from hypertrophic scar display a selective downregulation of different collagen genes and that this downregulation is exerted through an autocrine mechanism.
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Zhang, L.Q., Laato, M., Muona, P. et al. A fibroblast cell line cultured from a hypertrophic scar displays selective downregulation of collagen gene expression: barely detectable messenger RNA levels of the proα1(III) chain of type III collagen. Arch Dermatol Res 287, 534–538 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00374072
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00374072