COLLAGEN-SYNTHESIS BY FIBROBLASTS CULTURED WITHIN A COLLAGEN SPONGE

We prepared a collagen sponge made of type I and III bovine collagen, glycosaminoglycans (GAG) and chitosan. Fibroblasts grown within the co llagen sponge express a sixfold increase of their collagen synthesis, compared with fibroblasts embedded in a collagen gel. Moreover, collag en synthesis is twice as high in the collagen sponge than in a monolay er culture. The collagen sponge culture system promotes a dynamic mode l for us to perform studies on the regulations of collagen synthesis. Increased collagen production within the collagen sponge leads fibrobl asts to reconstitute their own extracellular matrix, which should be m ore physiological than a bovine collagen gel.