A flow bio-reactor for studying the effects of haemodynamic forces on the morphology and rheology of cylindrically cultured endothelial cells

Abstract

This study reports on the development and validation of an integrated experimental system for quantitative monitoring of the effects of vascular dynamic and static forces on endothelial cells (ECs), in terms of their morphological remodelling and rheological properties. The system consists of a microscope-based flow bio-reactor which imposes controlled individual and combined haemodynamic forces on ECs cultured on the inner surface of cylindrical transparent substrate tubes. EC morphology is monitored by optical microscopy. Micro-rheological alterations are measured by optical magnetic twisting cytometry (OMTC) using ferromagnetic micro-beads adherent to the EC cytoskeleton. System validation tests ascertained the capability for imposing controlled flow conditions and for real-time monitoring of morphological and rheological changes.

Keywords:

• Endothelial cells
• Bio-reactor
• Rheology
• OMTC

Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Jeff Fredberg, Harvard University HSPH for supplying the beads; Prof. Geoffrey Maksym, Dalhousie University, and Dr Jack Fairbank, McGill University, for their help in the bead tracking and analysis; Dr Uri Zaretsky, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, for his help in designing the flow unit; and Dr Dror Seliktar, Technion, Israel, for donating the BAECs, for providing access to his laboratory equipment and for his helpful comments. The help of Dr Oscar Lichtenstein from Technion in data acquisition programming and system development is gratefully acknowledged.

Declaration of interest:

The authors report no conflicts of interest.