A novel human arterial wall-on-a-chip to study endothelial inflammation and vascular smooth muscle cell migration in early atherosclerosis

Lab Chip. 2021 Jun 15;21(12):2359-2371. doi: 10.1039/d1lc00131k.

Abstract

Mechanistic understanding of atherosclerosis is largely hampered by the lack of a suitable in vitro human arterial model that recapitulates the arterial wall structure, and the interplay between different cell types and the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). This work introduces a novel microfluidic endothelial cell (EC)-smooth muscle cell (SMC) 3D co-culture platform that replicates the structural and biological aspects of the human arterial wall for modeling early atherosclerosis. Using a modified surface tension-based ECM patterning method, we established a well-defined intima-media-like structure, and identified an ECM composition (collagen I and Matrigel mixture) that retains the SMCs in a quiescent and aligned state, characteristic of a healthy artery. Endothelial stimulation with cytokines (IL-1β and TNFα) and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) was performed on-chip to study various early atherogenic events including endothelial inflammation (ICAM-1 expression), EC/SMC oxLDL uptake, SMC migration, and monocyte-EC adhesion. As a proof-of-concept for drug screening applications, we demonstrated the atheroprotective effects of vitamin D (1,25(OH)2D3) and metformin in mitigating cytokine-induced monocyte-EC adhesion and SMC migration. Overall, the developed arterial wall model facilitates quantitative and multi-factorial studies of EC and SMC phenotype in an atherogenic environment, and can be readily used as a platform technology to reconstitute multi-layered ECM tissue biointerfaces.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arteries
  • Atherosclerosis*
  • Cell Movement
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Humans
  • Inflammation
  • Lab-On-A-Chip Devices
  • Muscle, Smooth, Vascular*
  • Myocytes, Smooth Muscle