せん断応力負荷下で内皮細胞を培養した疑似血管マイクロデバイスの開発と形態変化の計測(流体工学,流体機械)  [in Japanese] Development of Micro Fluidic Device Cultured Endothelial Cells with Fluid Shear Stress Exposure and Measurement of Morphological Response(Fluids Engineering)  [in Japanese]

In order to investigate vascular diseases such as cause of atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction, relationships of endothelial cells (ECs) covered with surface blood vessels and blood flow stimulation have been experimentally studied. In the study, a blood vessel model for in vitro experiment made from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchip with a straight microchannel with 400μm width and 75μm depth was developed. By optimizing cells cultured condition such as the liquid introduction method and the surface coating for enhancement of cell attachment on the microchannel wall, a cell culture method in the microchannel with fluid shear stress to be confluent were developed. The morphological response, such as shape index, area and orientation, of cultured ECs with shear stress 0.1Pa was investigated. In the period of low cell density until 60 hours culture, cells were elongated and aligned with flow direction. In the period of over about 50% cell density of confluent, cells became gradually randomly distributed. The area of cell at confluent with shear stress became 1.7 times larger than that of cell without shear stress. The results indicated that interaction of surrounding cells influenced the morphological response of ECs.