Cytoskeleton Changes Induced in Dupuytren’s Contracture Cells by Phenformin

Abstract

Dupuytren’s contracture is a disease caused by formation of connective tissue in the dermis that will affect the movement of fingers. Myofibroblasts participate in wound healing and excessive scarring in patients with Dupuytren’s contracture and other fibrotic diseases.According to prior research, Myofibroblasts are characterized by an abundance of alpha smooth muscle actin (?SMA) within stress fibers in the cytoplasm of the cell. We proposed a research to find out how the cytoskeleton in the Dupuytren’s contracture (DC) change when it’s introduced with Phenformin. Therefore, we predicted that when DC cells are exposed to Phenformin, DC cells stop the migration process but still undergoing proliferation. So, we wanted to find a visual evidence of what we predicted.This study is mainly used to examine the differentiation and proliferation that phenformin has on DC cells. Through scientific analysis of the data from OCT, image J and fluorescence microscopy, the group treated with phenformin demonstrated suppression of myofibroblast differentiation and had no changes in cell proliferation. Our result showed a slight reduce in lattices height using OCT and decrease in alpha smooth actin muscle via click-EdU staining assay.Therefore, Phenformin has the potential to treat Dupuytren’s contracture (DC) by inhibiting the differentiation and proliferation of myofibroblasts. Our future goal is to run more myofibroblast-appropriate functional bioassays