Exploring the role of primary fibroblast cells in comparative physiology: a historical and contemporary overview.

With the advent of tissue culture, and eventually the in vitro growth and maintenance of individual cell types, it became possible to ask mechanistic questions about whole organism physiology that are impractical to address within a captive setting or within the whole organism. The earliest studies focused on understanding the wound-healing response while refining cell growth and maintenance protocols from various species. In addition to its extensive use in biomedical research, this approach has been co-opted by comparative physiologists interested in reductionist/mechanistic questions related to how cellular physiology can help explain whole organism function. Here, we provide a historical perspective on the emergence of primary cell culture with an emphasis on fibroblasts followed by an overview of applying this method to ask questions about the role of life-history evolution in shaping organismal physiology at the cellular level, as well as the effect of exogenous factors (i.e., temperature, and oxygen availability) on cellular function. Finally, we propose future uses for primary fibroblasts to address questions in conservation biology and comparative physiology.