Chen Zong-Zheng, Gao Zheng-Ming, Zeng De-Pei, Liu Bo, Luan Yong, Qin Kai-Rong
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, China.
Micromachines (Basel). 2016 Nov 23;7(11):213. doi: 10.3390/mi7110213.
The intracellular calcium dynamics in vascular endothelial cells (VECs) in response to wall shear stress (WSS) and/or adenosine triphosphate (ATP) have been commonly regarded as an important factor in regulating VEC function and behavior including proliferation, migration and apoptosis. However, the effects of time-varying ATP signals have been usually neglected in the past investigations in the field of VEC mechanobiology. In order to investigate the combined effects of WSS and dynamic ATP signals on the intracellular calcium dynamic in VECs, a Y-shaped microfluidic device, which can provide the cultured cells on the bottom of its mixing micro-channel with stimuli of WSS signal alone and different combinations of WSS and ATP signals in one single micro-channel, is proposed. Both numerical simulation and experimental studies verify the feasibility of its application. Cellular experimental results also suggest that a combination of WSS and ATP signals rather than a WSS signal alone might play a more significant role in VEC Ca signal transduction induced by blood flow.
血管内皮细胞（VECs）中响应壁面剪应力（WSS）和/或三磷酸腺苷（ATP）的细胞内钙动力学通常被视为调节VEC功能和行为（包括增殖、迁移和凋亡）的重要因素。然而，在VEC力学生物学领域过去的研究中，时变ATP信号的影响通常被忽视。为了研究WSS和动态ATP信号对VECs细胞内钙动力学的联合作用，提出了一种Y形微流控装置，该装置可以在其混合微通道底部为培养的细胞提供单独的WSS信号刺激以及在单个微通道中WSS和ATP信号的不同组合。数值模拟和实验研究均验证了其应用的可行性。细胞实验结果还表明，WSS和ATP信号的组合而非单独的WSS信号可能在血流诱导的VEC钙信号转导中发挥更重要的作用。
