Microfluidic chips for the endothelial biomechanics and mechanobiology of the vascular system

Biocell

article

HAORAN SU¹  KEXIN LI¹  XIAO LIU¹  JING DU¹  LI WANG²  XIAOYAN DENG³  YUBO FAN¹ 

[1] Beijing Advanced Innovation Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Chinese Education Ministry, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University;Beijing Research Center of Urban System Engineering;Artificial Intelligence Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Automation and Information Engineering, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering;School of Engineering Medicine, Beihang University

关键词: Endothelial cells;    Vascular system;    Mechanotransduction;    Microfluidic chip;   

DOI  :  10.32604/biocell.2021.014900

学科分类：仪器

来源: Biocell

【 摘 要 】

Endothelial cells arranged on the vessel lumen are constantly stimulated by blood flow, blood pressure and pressureinduced cyclic stretch. These stimuli are sensed through mechanical sensory structures and converted into a series of functional responses through mechanotransduction pathways. The process will eventually affect vascular health. Therefore, there has been an urgent need to establish in vitro endothelial biomechanics and mechanobiology of models, which reproduce three-dimensional structure vascular system. In recent years, the rapid development in microfluidic technology makes it possible to replicate the key structural and functionally biomechanical characteristics of vessels. Here, we summarized the progress of microfluidic chips used for the investigation of endothelial biomechanics and mechanobiology of the vascular system. Firstly, we elucidated the contribution of shear stress and circumferential stress, to vascular physiology. Then, we reviewed some applications using microfluidic technology in angiogenesis and vasculogenesis, endothelial permeability and mechanotransduction, as well as the blood-brain barrier under these physical forces. Finally, we discussed the future obstacles in terms of the development and application of microfluidic vascular chips.

【 授权许可】

CC BY