INTERACTION BETWEEN HUMAN FIBROBLASTS AND HYALURONIC ACID: OUTPUT IN THE EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX

A. Avantaggiato¹, E. Zucchinelli², L.A. Marino² and A. Palmieri³

¹Private Practice, Codigoro, Ferrara, Italy;
²Dental School, Albanian University, Tirana, Albany;
³Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Correspondence to:
Annalisa Palmieri, PhD
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences,
Alma Mater Studiorum,
University of Bologna
40126 Bologna, Italy
e-mail: annalisa.palmieri@unibo.it

Received:  11 March 2022 Accepted: 23 April 2022

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ABSTRACT

Hyaluronic acid is the major constituent of the extracellular matrix. It is important in cell signaling and proliferation, extracellular matrix structural organization, tissue reparation, angiogenesis, and inflammatory and immune response. Nevertheless, it was demonstrated that hyaluronic acid’s biological functions and properties are strictly dependent on its molecular weight, showing opposite effects between high-molecular-weight and low molecular weight. Here, we tested the effect of hyaluronic acid at the different molecular weights (low, medium, and high) on the extracellular matrix deposition and remodeling in fibroblasts treated for 24 hours, measuring the gene expression levels of genes belonging to “Extracellular Matrix and Adhesion Molecules” pathway. The most significant effects in cell proliferation seem to occur with the administration of high and medium molecular-weight hyaluronic acid, which induces the expression of genes such as HAS1, COL4A1, and COL9A1. These results demonstrated that hyaluronic acid activates fibroblasts by stimulating the deposition of the extracellular matrix and its remodeling.

KEYWORDS: hyaluronic acid, fibroblasts, extracellular matrix, gene expression