Engineering solutions for biological studies of flow-exposed endothelial cells on orbital shakers.

ABSTRACT: Shear stress is extremely important for endothelial cell (EC) function. The popularity of 6-well plates on orbital shakers to impose shear stress on ECs has increased among biologists due to their low cost and simplicity. One characteristic of such a platform is the heterogeneous flow profile within a well. While cells in the periphery are exposed to a laminar and high-velocity pulsatile flow that mimics physiological conditions, the flow in the center is disturbed and imposes low shear stress on the cells, which is characteristic of atheroprone regions. For studies where such heterogeneity is not desired, we present a simple cell-patterning technique to selectively prevent cell growth in the center of the well and facilitate the exclusive collection and analysis of cells in the periphery.

SUBMITTER: Fernandes A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8782315 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature