Microfluidic system with integrated nanocellulose cell culture substrate to study alignment of human umbilical vein endothelial cells in relation to external physical cues

• In this work, aligned cationic cellulose nanofibrils (c-CNF) were integrated into a microfluidic channel to guide cell attachment of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the effect of different mechanical cues on cell orientation was investigated. The on-chip cultured cells were exposed to external stimuli by the c-CNF topography and a fluid flow-induced shear stress, either separately or combined. Fluorescent images of the c-CNF pattern stained with calcofluor white and HUVECs stained for F-actin fibers and cell nuclei were obtained and used to quantify orientation of the CNFs, the F-actin fibers and the cell nuclei together with the eccentricity of the nuclei. Compared to the control, where the cells were cultured on a smooth surface in static conditions, cells cultured on the c-CNF pattern alone showed a clear alignment to the underlying microtopography. Cells cultured on a smooth surface responded slightly to the external mechanical stimuli indicating that the cell orientation was more strongly affected by c-CNF topography than the shear stress. With these results, we established a platform that can de-couple external mechanical stimuli originating from surface topography and shear stress to increase our understanding of how cells react to these factors when cultured in microfluidic in vitro systems. 

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Nanoteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Nano-technology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

cellulose nanofibrils

microfluidics

cellular orientation

shear stress

topography

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

ovr (subject category)