Ashlyn Terasaki, “Endothelial Cell Response to Hypertensive Pressure Changes”
Mentor: Mahsa Dabagh, Biomedical Engineering
Poster #194

In biomedical engineering research fields, microfluidic devices allow for integration of cells, particles, and other substances to observe their behavior under various conditions over time. By lining microchannels with endothelial cells, vasculature can be modeled and used to study dynamic processes in vitro. For this research, a microfluidic device is used to explore the effects of hypertension on endothelial cells within varying microchannel sizes. For perfusion culture of the human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), a pressure pump will be used to simulate normal and hypertensive conditions. Before culturing the HUVECs, the microchannels will be coated with fibronectin to promote cell adhesion. Immunofluorescence will be used to visualize the endothelial cells that are attached to the surface of the microchannels. Fluorescent dyes will also be used to confirm coating efficiency of the fibronectin coating and to visualize the HUVECs on the surface of the microchannels. Live cell imaging will be done over time to compare the changes in the different microchannels. Anticipated outcomes are to visualize the changes of endothelial monolayers within the microchannels with varying amounts of pressure over time. Investigating the impact of hypertension on the endothelial monolayer within the device can give insight into how vessels of the microvasculature are affected by pressure. Hypertensive conditions that contribute to endothelium dysfunction can later be utilized in cancer research to see how this hypertension influences the metastatic process.