Matrix stiffness regulates oxidative stress response of human dermal fibroblasts

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are widely involved in many physiological and pathological processes. It has been well known that decreased antioxidant ability resulted excessive ROS accumulation leads elderly people to have more risk in ageing related diseases. However, the underlying mechanism of wh...

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Main Author: Yao, Xuefeng
Other Authors: Tan Lay Poh
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/87453
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/46707
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author Yao, Xuefeng
author2 Tan Lay Poh
author_facet Tan Lay Poh
Yao, Xuefeng
author_sort Yao, Xuefeng
collection NTU
description Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are widely involved in many physiological and pathological processes. It has been well known that decreased antioxidant ability resulted excessive ROS accumulation leads elderly people to have more risk in ageing related diseases. However, the underlying mechanism of why the antioxidant ability decreases with age remains unknown. Recent research progress shows that aged and diseased tissues have significantly altered mechanical microenvironment. Also, the regulatory role of mechanical microenvironment in numerous cellular processes such as cell adherent, cell morphology, cell migration, cell proliferation, cell differentiation and cell apoptosis has been well established. But, little has been known about the correlation between altered microenvironment and ROS dysregulation. As above, this dissertation aims to study the effect of extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness on ROS regulation. In this study, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates with different crosslinking ratio (1:10, 1:40 and 1:70, cross linker: base) were fabricated to mimic the microenvironment with different stiffness. Tissue culture plates (TCPs) and 750kPa PDMS substrates were used as stiff matrix, while 46kPa and 21kPa represented soft matrix. Human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) were cultured on these substrates followed by additional exotic oxidative stress stimulation, and the cell behaviors were examined accordingly. Firstly, HDFs on stiff matrix were more susceptible to H2O2 induced ROS accumulation and apoptosis, while soft matrix significantly reduced H2O2 induced cellular damage. It is also suggested that the prevention is nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) involved and independent of the ROCK pathway. Then, it is demonstrated that the matrix stiffness might regulate cell oxidative stress tolerance via the YAP-Nox4/Nrf2 pathway. HDFs on stiff matrix exhibited high Nox4 expression, so that they were oxidative stress sensitive. Due to high expression of Nrf2, HDFs on soft matrix showed strong oxidative stress resistance. At last, matrix stiffness regulated oxidative stress was further confirmed by UV exposure. It is revealed that most HDFs accumulate excessive ROS and undergo senescence on stiff matrix, while it is slightly affected on soft matrix, upon UV irradiation. The results proved that the mechanical microenvironment has regulatory effect on cell oxidative stres s response, as well oxidative stress induced cell fate decision. It is also indicated that ECM stiffness increase is a possible cause of decreased antioxidant ability.
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spelling ntu-10356/874532023-03-04T16:33:46Z Matrix stiffness regulates oxidative stress response of human dermal fibroblasts Yao, Xuefeng Tan Lay Poh School of Materials Science & Engineering DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are widely involved in many physiological and pathological processes. It has been well known that decreased antioxidant ability resulted excessive ROS accumulation leads elderly people to have more risk in ageing related diseases. However, the underlying mechanism of why the antioxidant ability decreases with age remains unknown. Recent research progress shows that aged and diseased tissues have significantly altered mechanical microenvironment. Also, the regulatory role of mechanical microenvironment in numerous cellular processes such as cell adherent, cell morphology, cell migration, cell proliferation, cell differentiation and cell apoptosis has been well established. But, little has been known about the correlation between altered microenvironment and ROS dysregulation. As above, this dissertation aims to study the effect of extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness on ROS regulation. In this study, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates with different crosslinking ratio (1:10, 1:40 and 1:70, cross linker: base) were fabricated to mimic the microenvironment with different stiffness. Tissue culture plates (TCPs) and 750kPa PDMS substrates were used as stiff matrix, while 46kPa and 21kPa represented soft matrix. Human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) were cultured on these substrates followed by additional exotic oxidative stress stimulation, and the cell behaviors were examined accordingly. Firstly, HDFs on stiff matrix were more susceptible to H2O2 induced ROS accumulation and apoptosis, while soft matrix significantly reduced H2O2 induced cellular damage. It is also suggested that the prevention is nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) involved and independent of the ROCK pathway. Then, it is demonstrated that the matrix stiffness might regulate cell oxidative stress tolerance via the YAP-Nox4/Nrf2 pathway. HDFs on stiff matrix exhibited high Nox4 expression, so that they were oxidative stress sensitive. Due to high expression of Nrf2, HDFs on soft matrix showed strong oxidative stress resistance. At last, matrix stiffness regulated oxidative stress was further confirmed by UV exposure. It is revealed that most HDFs accumulate excessive ROS and undergo senescence on stiff matrix, while it is slightly affected on soft matrix, upon UV irradiation. The results proved that the mechanical microenvironment has regulatory effect on cell oxidative stres s response, as well oxidative stress induced cell fate decision. It is also indicated that ECM stiffness increase is a possible cause of decreased antioxidant ability. Doctor of Philosophy 2018-11-26T08:04:57Z 2019-12-06T16:42:14Z 2018-11-26T08:04:57Z 2019-12-06T16:42:14Z 2018 Thesis Yao, X. (2018). Matrix stiffness regulates oxidative stress response of human dermal fibroblasts. Doctoral thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/87453 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/46707 10.32657/10220/46707 en 165 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
Yao, Xuefeng
Matrix stiffness regulates oxidative stress response of human dermal fibroblasts
title Matrix stiffness regulates oxidative stress response of human dermal fibroblasts
title_full Matrix stiffness regulates oxidative stress response of human dermal fibroblasts
title_fullStr Matrix stiffness regulates oxidative stress response of human dermal fibroblasts
title_full_unstemmed Matrix stiffness regulates oxidative stress response of human dermal fibroblasts
title_short Matrix stiffness regulates oxidative stress response of human dermal fibroblasts
title_sort matrix stiffness regulates oxidative stress response of human dermal fibroblasts
topic DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/87453
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/46707
work_keys_str_mv AT yaoxuefeng matrixstiffnessregulatesoxidativestressresponseofhumandermalfibroblasts