Quantification of embryonic atrioventricular valve biomechanics during morphogenesis.

ABSTRACT: Tissue assembly in the developing embryo is a rapid and complex process. While much research has focused on genetic regulatory machinery, understanding tissue level changes such as biomechanical remodeling remains a challenging experimental enigma. In the particular case of embryonic atrioventricular valves, micro-scale, amorphous cushions rapidly remodel into fibrous leaflets while simultaneously interacting with a demanding mechanical environment. In this study we employ two microscale mechanical measurement systems in conjunction with finite element analysis to quantify valve stiffening during valvulogenesis. The pipette aspiration technique is compared to a uniaxial load deformation, and the analytic expression for a uniaxially loaded bar is used to estimate the nonlinear material para

SUBMITTER: Buskohl PR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3535469 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature