Kinetics of osmotic water movement from rabbit patellar tendon and medial collateral ligament fibroblasts.

The present study is part of a program to optimize the cryopreservation ligament and tendon allografts for the biological remodeling that occurs following transplantation. The osmotic behavior of fibroblasts from the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and the patellar tendon (PT) of new zealand white rabbits was measured to obtain the hydraulic conductivity (and its temperature dependence) as well as the osmotically inactive volume. MCL fibroblasts were found to have an isotonic cell volume of 3800 (m(3), an osmotically inactive volume of 1300 (microm(3), and a hydraulic conductivity of 0.56 (microm/min/atm at 20 degrees C with an activation energy of 10.9 kcal/mol. PT fibroblasts were found to have an isotonic cell volume of 6300 (microm(3), an osmotically inactive volume of 2000 (microm(3), and a hydraulic conductivity of 0.71 (m/min/atm at 20 degrees C with an activation energy of 10.1 kcal/mol.