Tensile forces enhance prostaglandin E synthesis in osteoblastic cells grown on collagen ribbons.

An experimental system has been developed to examine the prostaglandin (PG) production induced by tensile mechanical forces in bone cells cultured on collagen ribbons. Fetal rat calvaria cells (osteoblast-enriched) were grown on collagen ribbons. The collagen ribbons were stretched under culture conditions in a machine that recorded force and displacement. Repeated stretching of the collagen ribbons (8 times, 5-10%, over 2 hours) increased the rate of prostaglandin synthesis approximately 3.5-fold over that of cells on nonstretched ribbons. This system should provide a suitable method to quantitatively study the effect of mechanical forces on various parameters of PG synthesis.