By Katriana Meiman

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Laura Sipe

Abstract

Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) are disorders of connective tissue weakness with unclear, likely multifactorial mechanisms. This project assessed mast cells as a potential contributing factor due to their ability to induce connective tissue remodeling and the prevalence of mast cell hyperactivity in hEDS/HSD patients. NIH 3T3 fibroblasts were embedded in type I collagen and cultured as anchored constructs with or without bone marrow–derived mast cells. After 5 days of incubation, construct deformation, fibroblast alignment, and collagen alignment were assessed. Mast cell containing constructs exhibited increased deformation under self-weight (p = 0.025) and reduced fibroblast alignment (p = 0.003), while collagen alignment was not significantly altered. These findings suggest that mast cells impair construct integrity and disrupt fibroblast-matrix interactions without measurably changing bulk collagen alignment.