Liangcheng Xu, Xin Song, Gwennyth Carroll, Lidan You
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引用次数: 4
Abstract
Osteocytes are the major mechanosensing cells in bone remodeling. Current in vitro bone mechanotransduction research use macroscale devices such as flow chambers; however, in vitro microfluidic devices provide an optimal tool to better understand this biological process with its flexible design, physiologically relevant dimensions and high-throughput capabilities. This project aims to design and fabricate a multi-shear stress, co-culture platform to study the interaction between osteocytes and other bone cells under varying flow conditions. Standard microfluidic design utilizing changing geometric parameters is used to induce different flow rates that are directly proportional to the levels of shear stress, with devices fabricated from standard polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based softlithography processes. Each osteocyte channel (OCY) is connected to an adjacent osteoclast channel (OC) by 20-μm perfusion channels for cellular signaling molecule transport. Significant differences in RANKL levels are observed between channels with different shear stress levels, and we observed that pre-osteoclast differentiation was directly affected by adjacent flow-stimulated osteocytes. Significant decrease in the number of differentiating osteoclasts is observed in the OC channel adjacent to the 2-Pa shear stress OCY channel, while differentiation adjacent to the 0.5-Pa shear stress OCY channel is unaffected compared with no-flow controls. Addition of zoledronic acid showed a significant decrease in osteoclast differentiation, compounding to effect instigated by increasing fluid shear stress. Using this platform, we are able to mimic the interaction between osteocytes and osteoclasts in vitro under physiologically relevant bone interstitial fluid flow shear stress. Our novel microfluidic co-culture platform provides an optimal tool for bone cell mechanistic studies and provides a platform for the discovery of potential drug targets for clinical treatments of bone-related diseases.
期刊介绍:
Integrative Biology publishes original biological research based on innovative experimental and theoretical methodologies that answer biological questions. The journal is multi- and inter-disciplinary, calling upon expertise and technologies from the physical sciences, engineering, computation, imaging, and mathematics to address critical questions in biological systems.
Research using experimental or computational quantitative technologies to characterise biological systems at the molecular, cellular, tissue and population levels is welcomed. Of particular interest are submissions contributing to quantitative understanding of how component properties at one level in the dimensional scale (nano to micro) determine system behaviour at a higher level of complexity.
Studies of synthetic systems, whether used to elucidate fundamental principles of biological function or as the basis for novel applications are also of interest.