Design of a Side-View Particle Imaging Velocimetry Flow System for Cell-Substrate Adhesion Studies

Abstract

Experimental models that mimic the flow conditions in microcapillaries have suggested that the local shear stresses and shear rates can mediate tumor cell and leukocyte arrest on the endothelium and subsequent sustained adhesion. However, further investigation has been limited by the lack of experimental models that allow quantitative measurement of the hydrodynamic environment over adherent cells. The purpose of this study was to develop a system capable of acquiring quantitative flow profiles over adherent cells. By combining the techniques of side-view imaging and particle image velocimetry (PIV), an in vitro model was constructed that is capable of obtaining quantitative flow data over cells adhering to the endothelium. The velocity over an adherent leukocyte was measured and the shear rate was calculated under low and high upstream wall shear. The microcapillary channel was modeled using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the calculated velocity profiles over cells under the low and high shear rates were compared to experimental results. The drag force applied to each cell by the fluid was then computed. This system provides a means for future study of the forces underlying adhesion by permitting characterization of the local hydrodynamic conditions over adherent cells.

Nuclear Stiffening Inhibits Migration of Invasive Melanoma Cells

“…(40) Also, our previous work has shown that melanoma deformability enhances adhesion to endothelial cells under shear flow by increasing contact area. (41; 42)…”

Multi-scale biological and physical modelling of the tumour micro-environment

“…However, pursuing this in cellresolving blood flow systems is not as straightforward since the molecular-scale biology local to the cell membrane surface brings about additional challenges associated with boundary condition specification, cell membrane geometry, and indeed the continuum assumption itself. So although boundary conformal FSI approaches can be developed for flowing blood systems [10][11][12][43][44][45], additional modelling of the flow-membrane interface is unavoidable and needs to be justified in this context, as discussed further below.…”

A Semi-3D Real-Time Imaging Technique for Measuring Bone Cell Deformation Under Fluid Flow

“…A custom-built device was employed to align a mirror at 45 degrees in the light path of the BX-51 microscope to obtain "side view" images of a cell [4] (Figure 1). The IX-71 microscope was used to obtain the "bottom view" image of the cell body.…”

“…Traditional techniques to obtain this additional height information of a cell-body, such as confocal and deconvolution microscopy, are inherently limited by the timescale under which the deformational information can be visualized. Previous studies have investigated cell adhesion to substrate under flow using a single view side-view imaging technique [3,4]. In this study, we present a novel technique that is able to image a single cell simultaneously in two orthogonal planes to obtain real-time images of a cell at a millisecond timescale.…”