Spatiotemporal Analysis of Endothelial Cell Responses to Complex Mechanical Stress with an ECM-based Branched...

This paper describes a live-cell imaging system for spatiotemporal analysis of endothelial cellular response to complex mechanical stress in an extracellular matrix (ECM)-based branched in vitro vascular model. The branched in vitro vascular model with ECM scaffolds was fabricated by a sacrificial template-based method. The dimensions and mechanical stresses of the branched area were designed by finite element analysis. Endothelial cells were cultured under shear stress only or shear stress and cyclic stretch stress, and cell orientation was analyzed spatiotemporally at the single-cell and tissue scales.Clinical Relevance- Our results indicate that endothelial cells in vessels in vivo have areas that are strongly and weakly affected by mechanical stress, with a systematic response of cell polarity. In addition, our system would contribute to an effective approach to reproduce the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease in vitro and elucidate its processes.