Open Access

REVIEW

Microfluidic chips for the endothelial biomechanics and mechanobiology of the vascular system

by Haoran Su¹, Kexin Li¹, Xiao Liu^1,*, Jing Du¹, Li Wang⁴, Xiaoyan Deng^3,*, Yubo Fan^1,2,*

1 Beijing Advanced Innovation Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Chinese Education Ministry, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering , Beihang University, Beijing, 100083, China
2 School of Engineering Medicine, Beihang University, Beijing, 100083, China
3 Artificial Intelligence Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Automation and Information Engineering, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong, 643000, China
4 Beijing Research Center of Urban System Engineering, Beijing, China

* Address correspondence to: Xiao Liu, ; Xiaoyan Deng, ; Yubo Fan,

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Cellular Biomechanics in Health and Diseases)

BIOCELL 2021, 45(4), 797-811. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2021.014900

Received 06 November 2020; Accepted 14 January 2021; Issue published 22 April 2021

Abstract

Endothelial cells arranged on the vessel lumen are constantly stimulated by blood flow, blood pressure and pressureinduced cyclic stretch. These stimuli are sensed through mechanical sensory structures and converted into a series of functional responses through mechanotransduction pathways. The process will eventually affect vascular health. Therefore, there has been an urgent need to establish in vitro endothelial biomechanics and mechanobiology of models, which reproduce three-dimensional structure vascular system. In recent years, the rapid development in microfluidic technology makes it possible to replicate the key structural and functionally biomechanical characteristics of vessels. Here, we summarized the progress of microfluidic chips used for the investigation of endothelial biomechanics and mechanobiology of the vascular system. Firstly, we elucidated the contribution of shear stress and circumferential stress, to vascular physiology. Then, we reviewed some applications using microfluidic technology in angiogenesis and vasculogenesis, endothelial permeability and mechanotransduction, as well as the blood-brain barrier under these physical forces. Finally, we discussed the future obstacles in terms of the development and application of microfluidic vascular chips.

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