3D Cell Culture

When Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells are seeded onto optically transparent flow cells and subjected to shear stress using precision pumping, the cells align in the direction of the flow.

Using the PeriWave pump, a protocol was developed to form a 3D cell culture with explicit, endothelialized microvessels. The approach leads to fully enclosed, perfusable vessels in a bioremodelable hydrogel (type I collagen).

GFP-expressing endothelial cells exhibit dynamic migration within the endothelium in live fluorescence imaging experiments under physiological shear flow (∼11 mL/min, 17 dyne/cm2).  The synamic motility throughout the vessel wall of an individual cell’s path (yellow) as it migrates upstream and downstream within the endothelium between hour 48 and hour 72 in the experiment is highlighted. Under physiologic shear stress and flow, the endothelial cells align in the direction of the flow.

REFERENCE:

Morgan, J.P., Delnero, P.F., Zheng, Y., Verbridge, S.S., Chen, J., Craven, M., Choi, N., Diaz-Santana, A., Kermani, P., Hempstead, B., López, J.A., Corso, T.N., Fischbach-Teschl, C., Stroock, A.D. Formation of Microvascular Networks in vitro.  Nature Protocols, 8, 1820-1836 (2013)  doi:10.1038/nprot.2013.110.