Evaluations of fibroblast apoptosis in the stress-deprived patellar tendon in vivo

应力剥夺对肌腱组织的影响一直是生物力学领域的一个重要研究热点。将家兔分为应力屏蔽组、假手术组和对照组。为了完全保护髌腱免受应力，我们使用了一种既定的手术方法。在24小时、2天和4天时，应激屏蔽组中TUNEL-、caspase-3-、JNK-和p38-阳性细胞的数量和比率均显著高于假手术组（p<0.0001）。本研究表明，完全应激剥夺诱导体内成纤维细胞凋亡，JNK和p38在24小时内激活。这一事实表明，应激剥夺引起的成纤维细胞凋亡是通过丝裂原活化蛋白激酶信号通路诱导的。

The effect of stress deprivation on the tendon tissue has been an important focus in the field of biomechanics. Rabbits were divided into stress-shielded, sham-operated, and control groups. To completely shield the patellar tendon from stress, we used an established surgical method. Both the number and the ratio of TUNEL-, caspase-3-, JNK-, and p38-positive cells were significantly greater (p<0.0001) in the stress-shielded group than in the sham group at 24h, 2, and 4 days. This study demonstrated that complete stress deprivation induces fibroblast apoptosis in vivo with activation of JNK and p38 within 24h. This fact suggested that the fibroblast apoptosis caused by stress deprivation is induced via the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway.