User-friendly microfluidic system reveals native-like morphological and transcriptomic phenotypes induced by shear stress in proximal tubule epithelium.
Natalie N Khalil, Andrew P Petersen, Cheng J Song, Yibu Chen, Kaelyn Takamoto, Austin C Kellogg, Elaine Zhelan Chen, Andrew P McMahon, Megan L McCain
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Drug-induced nephrotoxicity is a leading cause of drug attrition, partly due to the limited relevance of pre-clinical models of the proximal tubule. Culturing proximal tubule epithelial cells (PTECs) under fluid flow to mimic physiological shear stress has been shown to improve select phenotypes, but existing flow systems are expensive and difficult to implement by non-experts in microfluidics. Here, we designed and fabricated an accessible and modular flow system for culturing PTECs under physiological shear stress, which induced native-like cuboidal morphology, downregulated pathways associated with hypoxia, stress, and injury, and upregulated xenobiotic metabolism pathways. We also compared the expression profiles of shear-dependent genes in our in vitro PTEC tissues to that of ex vivo proximal tubules and observed stronger clustering between ex vivo proximal tubules and PTECs under physiological shear stress relative to PTECs under negligible shear stress. Together, these data illustrate the utility of our user-friendly flow system and highlight the role of shear stress in promoting native-like morphological and transcriptomic phenotypes in PTECs in vitro, which is critical for developing more relevant pre-clinical models of the proximal tubule for drug screening or disease modeling.
期刊介绍:
APL Bioengineering is devoted to research at the intersection of biology, physics, and engineering. The journal publishes high-impact manuscripts specific to the understanding and advancement of physics and engineering of biological systems. APL Bioengineering is the new home for the bioengineering and biomedical research communities.
APL Bioengineering publishes original research articles, reviews, and perspectives. Topical coverage includes:
-Biofabrication and Bioprinting
-Biomedical Materials, Sensors, and Imaging
-Engineered Living Systems
-Cell and Tissue Engineering
-Regenerative Medicine
-Molecular, Cell, and Tissue Biomechanics
-Systems Biology and Computational Biology