Ascorbic Acid and Fibroblasts

[Richard Gordon]

Dear Gautam,
It's nice to see the blunt question of differentiation in such cells. I
assume you mean in culture?

I don't have an answer, but we've been working on differentiation in intact
embryos, and find that each step of differentiation seems to be triggered
by an observable wave that crosses a tissue. It would be interesting to
learn whether similar waves accompany differentiation in tissue culture.
Perhaps ascorbic acid would alter differentiation waves? A couple of key
papers are listed below.

Best, -Dick Gordon

>Hi
>
>Is there anybody out there who knows if ascorbic acid (vitamin C) causes
>differentiation of fibroblasts. It has been established that ascobate does
>induce the synthesis of collagen.   Indeed, do fibroblasts undergo
>differentiation?  Differentiation of fibroblasts seems to be a confusing
>issue.  There seems to be some confusion as to whether fibroblasts can
>undergo differentation like epithelial cells and lymphocytes.  If there is
>anyone who has some insight into this process your help will be enormously
>appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>
>Gautam Bijur
>Dept. of Med. Micro. Immunol.
>bijur.1 at pop.service.ohio-state.edu

Bjorklund, N. K. & R. Gordon (1994). Surface contraction and expansion
waves correlated with differentiation in axolotl embryos. I. Prolegomenon
and differentiation during the plunge through the blastopore, as shown by
the fate map. Computers & Chemistry  18(3), 333-345.

Brodland, G. W., R. Gordon, M. J. Scott, N. K. Bjorklund, K. B. Luchka, C.
C. Martin, C. Matuga, M. Globus, S. Vethamany-Globus & D. Shu (1993).
Furrowing surface contraction wave coincident with primary neural induction
in amphibian embryos. J. Morph. 219, 131-142.

Gordon, R. & N.K. Bjorklund (1996). How to observe surface contraction
waves on axolotls. Int. J. Dev. Biol.  40(4), 913-914.

Gordon, R., N. K. Bjorklund & P. D. Nieuwkoop (1994). Dialogue on embryonic
induction and differentiation waves. Int. Rev. Cytol. 150, 373-420.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Richard Gordon, Department of Radiology
University of Manitoba, Room ON104, Health Sciences Centre
820 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg, MB R3A 1R9 Canada
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E-mail: GordonR at cc.UManitoba.ca