Berlin 2024 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 14: Poster IIa
BP 14.10: Poster
Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 18:00–20:30, Poster E
Mechanical Properties of the Premature Lung — •Jonas Naumann1, Nicklas Koppe1, Ulrich Thome2, Mandy Laube2, and Mareike Zink1 — 1Research Group Biotechnology & Biomedicine, Peter Debye Institute for Soft Matter Physics, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, Germany — 2Center for Pediatric Research Leipzig, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Premature infants are often reliant on mechanical ventilation to survive. However, prolonged ventilation and associated mechanical stress may cause subsequent pulmonary diseases of the immature lung. To study the mechanical properties of fetal rat lungs on macroscopic scale, we performed rheology experiments under compression and tension using different velocities. Fetal lung tissue showed a hyperelastic behavior and became significantly stiffer with increasing deformation velocities. In fact, fetal lung tissue under compression showed clear viscoelastic features even for small strains. A higher Young's modulus of fetal lungs compared to adult controls clearly pointed towards altered tissue characteristics. In addition, the influence of a hydrostatic pressure difference on the electrophysiology of primary fetal distal lung epithelial cells was investigated on microscopic scale. We observed a strong impact of hydrostatic pressure on the activity of the epithelial sodium channel and the sodium-potassium pump. Vectorial sodium transport, crucial for alveolar fluid clearance, was significantly impaired.
Keywords: fetal lung; lung mechanics; tissue deformation; mechanosensitivity; epithelial sodium channel