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Excessive deposition of collagen and increased stiffness of the airway are characteristic features of the pathological airway remodeling that occurs in asthma. However, the mechanisms that lead to a loss in collagen homeostasis are unclear. In remodeling adult tissues, collagen degradation occurs primarily via intercellular pathways whereby collagen fibers which are first cleaved into fragments by collagenase are then engulfed by fibroblasts. With the onset of asthma, airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells attach to collagen fibers and transmit higher forces through collagen. The goal of this study is to evaluate whether this increased force on the collagen fibers can inhibit the activity of collagenase resulting in excess collagen deposition. To quantify the effect of stretch on collagenase activity, type I collagen gels were attached to parallel rubber plates using cyanoacrylate glue and mounted on a dual …