Biehl Andreea, Colmon Ramair, Timofeeva Anastasia, Gracioso Martins Ana Maria, Dion Gregory R, Peters Kara, Freytes Donald O
Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, North Carolina State University & University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 4130 Engineering Building III, Campus Box 7115, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, 1060 William Moore Drive, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA.
Bioengineering (Basel). 2023 May 17;10(5):602. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering10050602.
The vocal folds (VFs) are constantly exposed to mechanical stimulation leading to changes in biomechanical properties, structure, and composition. The development of long-term strategies for VF treatment depends on the characterization of related cells, biomaterials, or engineered tissues in a controlled mechanical environment. Our aim was to design, develop, and characterize a scalable and high-throughput platform that mimics the mechanical microenvironment of the VFs in vitro. The platform consists of a 24-well plate fitted with a flexible membrane atop a waveguide equipped with piezoelectric speakers which allows for cells to be exposed to various phonatory stimuli. The displacements of the flexible membrane were characterized via Laser Doppler Vibrometry (LDV). Human VF fibroblasts and mesenchymal stem cells were seeded, exposed to various vibratory regimes, and the expression of pro-fibrotic and pro-inflammatory genes was analyzed. Compared to current bioreactor designs, the platform developed in this study can incorporate commercial assay formats ranging from 6- to 96-well plates which represents a significant improvement in scalability. This platform is modular and allows for tunable frequency regimes.
声带（VFs）不断受到机械刺激，导致生物力学特性、结构和组成发生变化。声带治疗长期策略的制定取决于在可控机械环境中对相关细胞、生物材料或工程组织的表征。我们的目标是设计、开发并表征一个可扩展的高通量平台，该平台可在体外模拟声带的机械微环境。该平台由一个24孔板组成，在配备压电扬声器的波导顶部装有柔性膜，使细胞能够暴露于各种发声刺激。通过激光多普勒振动测量法（LDV）对柔性膜的位移进行表征。接种人声带成纤维细胞和间充质干细胞，使其暴露于各种振动模式下，并分析促纤维化和促炎基因的表达。与目前的生物反应器设计相比，本研究开发的平台可以采用从6孔到96孔板的商业检测形式，这在可扩展性方面有了显著改进。该平台是模块化的，允许调节频率模式。
