Modeling lung stretch in 3D could help reduce injuries for lungs on ventilators
Modeling lung stretch in 3D could help reduce injuries for lungs on ventilators lead image
On average, our lungs take in and expel 20,000 breaths per day. Due to these essential movements, tiny blood vessels in the lungs are constantly compressed and dilated.
Healthy lungs have no problems with these mechanical cyclical stresses, but for compromised lungs, especially those on ventilators, such stresses can lead to acute lung injuries.
To developing ventilation treatments with reduced risk of injuries, researchers are developing models to understand these stresses in lungs. Previously, researchers have studied the effects of stress only in 2D models on endothelial cells – those that form barriers between vessels and tissues. Zeinali et al. modelled entire vessels for the first time in 3D.
“The most striking finding of our study is the fact that the endothelial barrier function in a 3D vascular model (vessel) responds totally differently than in a 2D model (layer of endothelial cells),” author Olivier Guenat said via email.
The 2D models showed high cyclical stresses disrupted endothelial barriers, but their research found high stress produces a stronger barrier. The results highlight the importance of 3D modeling to investigate mechanobiology effects in tissues.
To model the vessels, the authors created a 3D vessel in a fibrin gel on top a flexible membrane. The model was stressed by changing the pressure in a chamber below the membrane. This allowed the authors to easily test different stress levels over varying time periods.
The authors plan to continue with further mechanobiology projects including developing models of vascular diseases in the lungs and investigating effects of vasculogenesis and angiogenesis – the formation and shaping of new blood cells – when exposed to cyclic stress.
Source: “Remodeling of an in vitro microvessel exposed to cyclic mechanical stretch,” by Soheila Zeinali, Emily K. Thompson, Holger Gerhardt, Thomas Geiser, and Olivier T. Guenat, APL Bioengineering (2021). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0010159 .
