SKM 2023 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 28: Poster Session II

BP 28.20: Poster

Donnerstag, 30. März 2023, 18:00–20:00, P2/EG

3D Traction Force Microscopy on engineered blood vessels — •Karim Ajmail, Fatemeh Mirzapour, and Karen Alim — School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Germany

The endothelium lines the walls of every blood vessel the human body. By virtue of their strategic position the endothelium has to withstand a plethora of mechanical cues including shear stress, circumferential strain as well as pressure exerted by the blood flow. Therefore, the mechanobiology of endothelial cells is a particularly pivotal part for the functionality of this tissue. However, the immense complexity of the vasculature necessitates in vitro systems that can uncouple and measure these various effects. Although in vitro approaches greatly enhanced our understanding of endothelial complexity, a mechanical characterization of endothelial systems is missing so far. Here, we employ 3D Traction Force Microscopy (TFM) as state-of-the-art method to measure cellular forces in physiologically relevant environments. In particular, we use 3D TFM to measure forces in a perfusable engineered blood vessel embedded in a fibrin hydrogel. Further, the effect of different stationary as well as pulsatile flow patterns on the mechanical response of the cells is investigated. We propose 3D TFM as an additional readout parameter in future human-on-a-chip applications for a quantitative mechanical characterization of the tissue.