B. Chehroudi et al., COMPUTER-ASSISTED 3-DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OF EPITHELIAL-CELLS ATTACHED TO PERCUTANEOUS IMPLANTS, Journal of biomedical materials research, 29(3), 1995, pp. 371-379
It is generally accepted that cell shape plays a pivotal role in many
aspects of cell behavior including proliferation, differentiation, and
gene expression. Although previous reports have shown that implant-su
rface topography can alter cell shape in vitro, in vivo evidence for s
uch an effect is largely based on intuitive interpretation of two-dime
nsional histological sections. The objective of this in vivo study was
to develop a method to reconstruct in three dimensions the shape of e
pithelial cells attached to smooth and micromachined implant surfaces.
Titanium-coated epoxy replicas of smooth and 10-mu m-deep micromachin
ed grooved surfaces were implanted percutaneously in the parietal regi
on of rats. After 7 days the implants and attached tissue were removed
and processed for light and electron microscopy. One-micrometer-thick
serial histological sections were used to trace and digitize cells an
d their nuclei into a Hewlett Packard computer. Three-dimensional imag
es were reconstructed and rotated to measure length, width, height, ar
ea, orientation index and the angle cells or nuclei formed with the lo
ng axis of the grooves (XY angle), and the angle cells or nuclei forme
d with the long axis of the implant (XZ angle). Epithelial cells attac
hed to the smooth surfaces were found to be significantly (P < .05) fl
atter and more spread than were the cells attached to the grooved surf
aces. Cells on the smooth surfaces were aligned parallel with the long
axis of the implant, whereas an the grooved surfaces cells were orien
ted obliquely with the implant. There was a strong correlation (r = 0.
9) between measurements of parameters of cells and those of nuclei on
the smooth surfaces, but little correlation was found for the cells an
d their nuclei on grooved surfaces. These measurements indicated that
cell shape is altered by the topography of the implant surface in vivo
, but that one cannot necessarily predict the shape of a cell from the
shape of its nucleus. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.