In vitro effects of tensile strain on cancer-associated and matched normal fibroblasts derived from oral squamous cell carcinoma: an exploratory study

BackgroundMechanical forces, particularly tensile stress, influence tumor progression by modulating cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) behaviour and extracellular matrix remodelling, yet their role in oral cancer remains insufficiently defined. To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating in vitro tensile stress responses in CAF and normal fibroblasts (NF) derived from oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). ObjectiveTo assess how tensile stress affects fibroblast gap closure, proliferation, metabolic activity, and paracrine signalling relevant to tumor-stroma interactions. MethodsCAFs and NFs were isolated from OSCC tissue and matched healthy mucosa and exposed to cyclic tensile strain (3%, 0.02 Hz, 96 h) using the FX-6000T system. Gap closure was assessed by wound-healing assay, proliferation by cell counting, metabolic activity by AlamarBlue, and paracrine effects on A549 tumor cell gap closure using fibroblast-conditioned supernatants. ResultsTensile loading significantly increased CAF gap closure capacity compared with both stimulated NFs (p View larger version (46K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@d275c6org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@13249c5org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@8964b9org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@33e767_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG