An in vitro model of foam cell formation induced by a stretchable microfluidic device.

ABSTRACT: Although a variety of animal models of atherosclerosis have been developed, these models are time-consuming and costly. Here, we describe an in vitro model to induce foam cell formation in the early stage of atherosclerosis. This model is based on a three-dimension co-culture system in a stretchable microfluidic device. An elastic membrane embedded in the microfluidic device is capable of delivering nonuniform strain to vascular smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells and monocytes adhering thereto, which are intended to mimic the biological environment of blood vessels. Under low-density lipoprotein and stretch treatment, foam cell formation was successfully induced in co-culture with changes in mRNA and protein expression of some related key factors. Subsequently, the model was used to as

SUBMITTER: Gu X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6522483 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature