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Loss of Homeostatic Tension Induces Apoptosis in Tendon Cells: An In Vitro Study

  • Symposium: Molecular and Clinical Developments in Tendinopathy
  • Published:
Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research

Abstract

Apoptosis (programmed cell death) has been identified as a histopathologic feature of tendinopathy. While the precise mechanism(s) that triggers the apoptotic cascade in tendon cells has not been identified, it has been theorized that loss of cellular homeostatic tension following microscopic damage to individual tendon fibrils could be the stimulus for initiating the pathologic events associated with tendinopathy. To determine if loss of homeostatic tension following stress deprivation could induce apoptosis in tendon cells, rat tail tendons were stress-deprived or cyclically loaded (3% strain at 0.17 Hz) for 24 hours under tissue culture conditions. Caspase-3 (an upstream mediator of apoptosis) mRNA expression was evaluated using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and caspase-3 protein synthesis was identified using immunohistochemistry. Apoptotic cells were identified histologically using an antibody for single-stranded DNA. Stress deprivation for 24 hours resulted in an increase in caspase-3 mRNA expression when compared to fresh controls or cyclically loaded tendons. Stress deprivation also increased the percentage of apoptotic cells (10.59% ± 2.80) compared to controls (1.87% ± 1.07) or cyclically loaded tendons (3.73% ± 0.87). These data suggest loss of homeostatic tension following stress deprivation induces apoptosis in rat tail tendon cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Comparative Orthopaedic Research, College of Veterinary Medicine, G-387, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Monika Egerbacher DVM, PhD, Steven P. Arnoczky DVM, Oscar Caballero MS, Michael Lavagnino PhD & Keri L. Gardner MS

  2. Department of Pathobiology, Institute of Histology & Embryology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria

    Monika Egerbacher DVM, PhD

Authors
  1. Monika Egerbacher DVM, PhD
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  2. Steven P. Arnoczky DVM
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  3. Oscar Caballero MS
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  4. Michael Lavagnino PhD
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  5. Keri L. Gardner MS
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven P. Arnoczky DVM.

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Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (eg, consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the animal protocol for this investigation and that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research.

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Egerbacher, M., Arnoczky, S.P., Caballero, O. et al. Loss of Homeostatic Tension Induces Apoptosis in Tendon Cells: An In Vitro Study. Clin Orthop Relat Res 466, 1562–1568 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-008-0274-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-008-0274-8

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