Cardiac and Lung Endothelial Cells in Response to Fluid Shear Stress on Physiological Matrix Stiffness and Composition
Posted by Adam Awdish on
Innovative Grade US Origin Porcine Heart and Lungs from Innovative Research was used in the following study:
Cydnee Bacci, Vanessa Wong, Victor Barahona, Nick Merna
Microcirculation
September 18, 2020
Decellularized tissues are seen as a potential scaffold for engineering organ and vascular tissues for transplantation. Decellularization removes contaminants from the scaffolding and minimizes the risk of disease transmission. However, because the structures can’t be re-endothelialized, these structures often fail to re-cellularize tissues in transplant studies. Endothelialization of vascular grafts followed by preconditioning the cells by fluid flow has been shown to improve adhesion and function in the cells after implantation, however this strategy doesn’t always work.
One potential solution is to investigate the biomarkers in tissue-specific EC responses to shear stress and more closely mimic physiological conditions. Cell survival and function is dependent on interaction with other cells and the ECM; The ECM is a supportive structure that containing collagen, elastin, fibrillin, proteoglycans and glycoproteins to help form bonds for cell adhesion. The ECM can also determine the behavior of ECs by initiating biological signals for homeostasis, differentiation, and tissue morphogenesis. Understanding how the stiffness and composition of substrates affects tissue‐specific cell response to shear stress aid in successful endothelialization of engineered tissues.
In this study, researchers investigated cellular alignment and expression in mouse microvascular CECs and LECs under shear stress compared to control conditions with various ECM coatings. Applying fluid shear stress caused the greatest cell alignment in cardiac endothelial cells seeded on polystyrene and lung endothelial cells on polydimethylsiloxane, resulting in elongation of the lung endothelial cells.
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