Journal: Biomaterials and biosystems

Article Title: Endothelial barrier function is co-regulated at vessel bifurcations by fluid forces and sphingosine-1-phosphate

doi: 10.1016/j.bbiosy.2021.100020

Figure Lengend Snippet: Biomimetic microfluidic model of vessel bifurcation for studying S1P-dependent L p . (A) The device top-view schematic depicting the inlet channel bifurcating into two smaller channels around a central extracellular matrix (ECM) compartment. (B) The zoomed-in view of the bifurcation region (denoted by the black box in A). (i) Top view schematic depicts the laminar inflow stagnating on the base of the bifurcation point (BP) that results in application of bifurcated fluid flow (BFF, black dash line). Downstream of the BP, flow continues into two regions that are under laminar shear stress (LSS, black solid lines) in the branched vessels (BV). Moreover, the apertures included in the PDMS barrier that separates the central ECM compartment from the endothelial channels allow for the formation of the endothelial monolayer at: (ii) the BP, and (iii) in each BV at the fluid-ECM interface. (C) Representative (i) phase contrast and (ii) confocal immunofluorescence images of the BP fully seeded with a confluent monolayer of HUVECs that have formed well-defined adherens junction structures. White scale bar is 100 μm. Red scale bars are 50 μm.

Article Snippet: To form individual microfluidic devices, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) solution was prepared by mixing silicon elastomer base and curing agent (Ellsworth Adhesives) at a weight ratio of 10:1 and was cast on a silicon master that featured the 50 μm in height monolithic microfluidic patterns microfabricated using SU-8 photolithography.

Techniques: Shear, Immunofluorescence