Mechanical stretching of periodontal ligament fibroblasts--a study on cytoskeletal involvement.

To investigate molecular aspects of the mechanism(s) involved in orthodontic tooth movement, periodontal ligament fibroblasts (PDL) were isolated and grown on culture dishes with a flexible bottom. The cells were stimulated by stretching the bottom of the culture dishes and whole cell extracts were prepared and subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide (SDS-PAGE) electrophoresis, electrotransferred to nitrocellulose membrane and immunoprobed with antibodies specific for vimentin and alpha- and beta-tubulin. No apparent alterations in the expression profile of the above mentioned major cytoskeletal elements were evident after mechanical stretching. Moreover, immunofluorescence against the same proteins revealed no changes in their topographical organisation between stretched and unstretched cell cultures.