Electrical stimulation of tissues has been found to have many uses in pain management, antibacterial treatment, and wound healing. <i>In vivo</i>, it is known to stimulate epidermal migration and increase fibroblast cell proliferation. Here we present the effect of Electrical Field (EF) stimulation on expression of collagen, elastin, and collagenase (proteins important for regeneration of tissue and maintenance of healthy connective tissue) in human dermal fibroblasts <i>in vitro</i>. The cells are stimulated in a bioreactor using square wave voltage pulses controlled by potentiostat for up to 24 h period. The pulse voltage (0-10V), pulse bias (0, +, -), pulse time (10-1000 ms), rest time (0.1-10 s) was varied. The effects of EF stimulation is evaluated in terms of protein expression level and changes in cell morphology. Our results show that collagen, elastin, and collagenase are overexpressed over 2 fold when the EF stimulation is larger than 3V and a positive bias is applied. The shorter pulse time stimulates the cells more effectively, while the rest time between pulses has a smaller effect. The expression of the studied proteins seems correlated.

Electrical stimulation of human dermal fibroblasts and quantification of collagen, collagenase, and elastin with morphology studies

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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