# TENDON CELLS--INTERACTIONS AND RESPONSES TO STRESS

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 1988 · $98,290

## Abstract

Tendon injuries, particularly sports-related injuries, constitute an
increasing proportion of cases treated at our hospital, yet
research in the molecular and cell biology of tendon healing is in
its embryonic stages.  Morphological, biomechanical and
biochemical studies of normal tendon have revealed fundamental
architecture, that exercise enhances healing and that fewer
collagen crosslinks can be correlated with increased range of
motion during convalescence after tendon injury.  The overall
objective of this study is to establish, on the molecular level, how
exercise alters the metabolism of tendon cells to yield the proper
balance between cell division and matrix production resulting in a
healed tendon that is strong yet flexible.  Results of recent
experiments in this laboratory indicate that aortic endothelial
cells respond to a repeating stress cycle of 10 sec 10% elongation
and 10 sec relaxation in vitro by increasing their rate of division.
The same stress regimen decreases the division rate of tendon
fibroblasts.  These different responses to the same stress field
seem reasonable given that endothelial cells need to completely
cover the interior of a blood vessel and regulate transport, but do
not contribute much mechanical strength, whereas an organ such
as tendon requires great tensile strength to transmit the force of
muscle contraction to bone effect limb movement.  In this case, if
tendon became highly cellular, it would have insufficient
mechanical strength to perform its work.  Hence cyclic stress to
tendon probably results in matrix production and not cell division.
The important conclusion is that the response to physical stress
probably varies for each tissue and may depend on the nature of
the stress as well as the cell type affected.  It should be possible
to define what regimen activates a given cell to produce one of
two principle effects:  an alteration in cell division or matrix
production.  It is most likely that rapid changes in cells, occurring
in secs or mins, could be involved in signal reception or
transduction related to the magnitude of the stress.  Slower
responses involved in long term reactions would involve whether
or not cells divide or produce matrix resulting in tissue build-up or
degradation affecting the ultimate strength and flexibility of the
tissue.  In this proposal, I intend to correlate cell metabolism and
matrix qualities of living tendon subjected to exercise or
immobilization, the two extremes of applied force in vivo with
those of cells subjected to applied force in vitro.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3158416
- **Project number:** 5R01AR038121-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **SAM.gov UEI:** D3LHU66KBLD5
- **Principal Investigator:** ALBERT J BANES
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1988
- **Award amount:** $98,290
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1987-08-01 → 1990-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3158416

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3158416, TENDON CELLS--INTERACTIONS AND RESPONSES TO STRESS (5R01AR038121-02). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-24 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3158416. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*