Endothelial Cell Biomechanical Responses are Dependent on Both Fluid Shear Stress and Tensile Strain.

Introduction: The goal of this study was to investigate how concurrent shear stress and tensile strain affect endothelial cell biomechanical responses.

Methods: Human coronary artery endothelial cells were exposed to concurrent pulsatile shear stress and cyclic tensile strain in a programmable shearing and stretching device. Three shear stress-tensile strain conditions were used: (1) pulsatile shear stress at 1 Pa and cyclic tensile strain at 7%, simulating normal stress/strain conditions in a healthy coronary artery; (2) shear stress at 3.

A comprehensive fluid-structure interaction model of the left coronary artery.

A fluid structure interaction model of a left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery was developed, incorporating transient blood flow, cyclic bending motion of the artery, and myocardial contraction. The 3D geometry was constructed based on a patient's computed tomography angiography data. To simulate disease conditions, a plaque was placed within the LAD to create a 70% stenosis.

Platelets modulate endothelial cell response to dynamic shear stress through PECAM-1.

Introduction: Both vascular endothelial cells and platelets are sensitive to blood flow induced shear stress. We have recently reported that platelet-endothelial cell interaction could greatly affect platelet activation under flow. In the present study, we aimed to investigate how platelet-endothelial cell interaction affected endothelial cell inflammatory responses under flow.

A Shearing-Stretching Device That Can Apply Physiological Fluid Shear Stress and Cyclic Stretch Concurrently to Endothelial Cells.

Endothelial cell (EC) morphology and functions can be highly impacted by the mechanical stresses that the cells experience in vivo. In most areas in the vasculature, ECs are continuously exposed to unsteady blood flow-induced shear stress and vasodilation-contraction-induced tensile stress/strain simultaneously. Investigations on how ECs respond to combined shear stress and tensile strain will help us to better understand how an altered mechanical environment affects EC mechanotransduction, dysfunction, and associated cardiovascular disease development.

Comparing high-resolution microscopy techniques for potential intraoperative use in guiding low-grade glioma resections.

Background And Objectives: Fluorescence image-guided surgery (FIGS), with contrast provided by 5-ALA-induced PpIX, has been shown to enable a higher extent of resection of high-grade gliomas. However, conventional FIGS with low-power microscopy lacks the sensitivity to aid in low-grade glioma (LGG) resection because PpIX signal is weak and sparse in such tissues. Intraoperative high-resolution microscopy of PpIX fluorescence has been proposed as a method to guide LGG resection, where sub-cellular resolution allows for the visualization of sparse and punctate mitochondrial PpIX production in tumor cells.

Comprehensive spectral endoscopy of topically applied SERS nanoparticles in the rat esophagus.

The early detection and biological investigation of esophageal cancer would benefit from the development of advanced imaging techniques to screen for the molecular changes that precede and accompany the onset of cancer. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoparticles (NPs) have the potential to improve cancer detection and the investigation of cancer progression through the sensitive and multiplexed phenotyping of cell-surface biomarkers. Here, a miniature endoscope featuring rotational scanning and axial pull back has been developed for 2D spectral imaging of SERS NPs topically applied on the lumenal surface of the rat esophagus.

Rapid ratiometric biomarker detection with topically applied SERS nanoparticles.

Multiplexed surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoparticles (NPs) offer the potential for rapid molecular phenotyping of tissues, thereby enabling accurate disease detection as well as patient stratification to guide personalized therapies or to monitor treatment outcomes. The clinical success of molecular diagnostics based on SERS NPs would be facilitated by the ability to accurately identify tissue biomarkers under time-constrained staining and detection conditions with a portable device. , and experiments were performed to optimize the technology and protocols for the rapid detection (0.

Trends in fluorescence image-guided surgery for gliomas.

Mounting evidence suggests that a more extensive surgical resection is associated with an improved life expectancy for both low-grade and high-grade glioma patients. However, radiographically complete resections are not often achieved in many cases because of the lack of sensitivity and specificity of current neurosurgical guidance techniques at the margins of diffuse infiltrative gliomas. Intraoperative fluorescence imaging offers the potential to improve the extent of resection and to investigate the possible benefits of resecting beyond the radiographic margins.