Introduction/Motivation Endothelial cell adherence mechanisms are well characterized in literature to date. Endothelial cells, such as HUVECs, interact with their substrate as well as surrounding cells through focal adhesions (network of proteins involved in cell adhesion; vinculin, talin, FAK, etc.), VE-cadherins, tight junctions, and other membrane bound molecules. These molecules work in combination to allow…
Introduction As a continuation of my rotation project and a beginning to my PhD work in the McGrath lab, I wanted to finalize my shear stress calculations within our blood vessel microfluidic device. All previous shear stress calculations were purely analytical, with many assumptions. This work aimed to minimize those assumptions while providing some publishable…
-Intro The mechanobiology behind endothelial cells has been extensively studied in recent years. Shear stress as well as substrate stiffness have both been shown to influence endothelial cell signaling and morphology in vitro [1,2]. However, the combination effect of both shear stress and substrate stiffness on endothelial cell function has not been elucidated to date. Reinhart-King et…
Matlab Generated Endothelial Cell Alignment Distribution Top and Bottom Gel No Gel Bottom Gel Run 1 Run 2 Statistical Analysis The next step in this data analysis is to perform some form of statistical analysis. Comparing real alignment data to a set of randomly generated alignments may be a good place to start. Also, comparing the frequency…
As a follow up to my previous post, I would like to present some preliminary data on the subject of endothelial cell alignment under shear stress with variable substrate stiffness. The flow set-up (Figure 1) allows for steady flow across the membrane on which the HUVECs are cultured. No Gel HUVEC Alignment Alignment of HUVECs…
As an introduction, my name is Alec Salminen. I received my BS in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arkansas and am currently in my first year of the BME PhD program at the University of Rochester. As my rotation in the McGrath lab gets underway, I would like to share with the group my…