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Sequential multimodal microscopic imaging and biaxial mechanical testing of living multicomponent tissue constructs
Yuqiang Bai1, Po-Feng Lee, Jay D Humphrey
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
|May 13, 2014
Summary
We developed a 3D tissue bioreactor to study how mechanical forces affect cell behavior and tissue structure. Surprisingly, tissues showed similar mechanical properties despite different collagen alignment, advancing engineered soft tissue research.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Tissue Engineering
- Mechanobiology
Background:
- Understanding the relationship between mechanical stimuli and cellular responses is crucial for tissue engineering.
- Current methods often lack the ability to simultaneously measure evolving tissue structure and mechanical properties over time.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel 3D tissue bioreactor integrated with multimodal nonlinear optical microscopy-optical coherence microscopy (NLOM-OCM) and biaxial mechanical testing.
- To investigate time-dependent changes in microstructure and mechanical properties of fibroblast-seeded fibrin gels under different biaxial stretch conditions.
Main Methods:
- A custom 3D tissue bioreactor was developed, integrating a multimodal NLOM-OCM system and a biaxial mechanical testing platform.
- Fibroblast-seeded fibrin gels were cultured under anchored (1.0:1.0) or strip biaxial (1.0:1.1) stretch conditions for one month.
- In-culture mechanical testing and NLOM-OCM were performed serially to track microstructural and mechanical property evolution.
Main Results:
- Seeded cells and deposited collagen showed random distribution in equibiaxially anchored constructs.
- Preferential alignment of cells and collagen parallel to the stretch direction was observed in strip biaxially stretched constructs.
- Both anchored and strip biaxial stretched constructs exhibited isotropic mechanical properties, with progressively increasing stiffness, despite differing collagen organization.
Conclusions:
- The integrated bioreactor system provides complementary insights into microstructural organization and mechanical properties of engineered tissues.
- This system enables a deeper understanding of the interplay between engineered soft tissue mechanics and mechanobiology.
- The findings highlight a decoupling between microstructural organization and bulk mechanical properties under different stretch conditions.
