ATLA::Alternatives to Laboratory Animals

Volume 29, Number 6

Electrical stimulation of transforming growth factor-β1 secretion by human dermal fibroblasts and the U937 human monocytic cell line.

ATLA 29, 693-701, November/December 2001

Ian Todd,¹ Richard H. Clothier,² Mary L. Huggins,¹ Nishma Patel,² K. Clare Searle,¹ Santhini Jeyarajah,¹ Lionel Pradel² and Karen L. Lacey¹

¹Division of Molecular and Clinical Immunology, School of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, and ²School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Nottingham Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK

SUMMARY

The in vitro effects on human dermal fibroblasts and the U937 human monocytic cell line of three phases of electrical microcurrents generated by the ACE Stimulator were investigated. The growth and viability of growing and confluent dermal fibroblasts were not directly influenced by the separate microcurrent phases. One form of microcurrent (designated phase 1) stimulated both dermal fibroblasts and U937 cells to secrete transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-βI), which is an important regulator of cell-mediated inflammation and tissue regeneration, but none of the three phases stimulated secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 by U937 cells. The stimulation of TGF-βl secretion in these experiments was not dramatic (a median increase over control levels of 20-30%), although it could be biologically significant.

Keywords: electrical stimulation, transforming growth factor-β, human dermal fibroblasts, U937 cell line