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Stem Cell Cytoskeletal Responses to Pulsatile Flow in Heart Valve Tissue Engineering Studies

Overview of attention for article published in Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, June 2018
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Title
Stem Cell Cytoskeletal Responses to Pulsatile Flow in Heart Valve Tissue Engineering Studies
Published in
Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, June 2018
DOI 10.3389/fcvm.2018.00058
Pubmed ID
Authors

Glenda Castellanos, Sana Nasim, Denise M. Almora, Sasmita Rath, Sharan Ramaswamy

Abstract

Heart valve replacement options remain exceedingly limited for pediatric patients because they cannot accommodate somatic growth. To overcome this shortcoming, heart valve tissue engineering using human bone marrow stem cells (HBMSCs) has been considered a potential solution to the treatment of critical congenital valvular defects. The mechanical environments during in vitro culture are key regulators of progenitor cell fate. Here, we report on alterations in HBMSCs, specifically in their actin cytoskeleton and their nucleus under fluid-induced shear stresses of relevance to heart valves. HBMSCs were seeded in microfluidic channels and were exposed to the following conditions: pulsatile shear stress (PSS), steady shear stress (SS), and no flow controls (n = 4/group). Changes to the actin filament structure were monitored and subsequent gene expression was evaluated. A significant increase (p < 0.05) in the number of actin filaments, filament density and angle (between 30° and 84°), and conversely a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in the length of the filaments were observed when the HBMSCs were exposed to PSS for 48 h compared to SS and no flow conditions. No significant differences in nuclear shape were observed among the groups (p > 0.05). Of particular relevance to valvulogenesis, klf2a, a critical gene in valve development, was significantly expressed only by the PSS group (p < 0.05). We conclude that HBMSCs respond to PSS by alterations to their actin filament structure that are distinct from SS and no flow conditions. These changes coupled with the subsequent gene expression findings suggest that at the cellular level, the immediate effect of PSS is to initiate a unique set of quantifiable cytoskeletal events (increased actin filament number, density and angle, but decrease in filament length) in stem cells, which could be useful in the fine-tuning of in vitro protocols in heart valve tissue engineering.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 14 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 14 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 4 29%
Student > Master 3 21%
Student > Bachelor 2 14%
Lecturer 1 7%
Other 1 7%
Other 0 0%
Unknown 3 21%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Engineering 7 50%
Medicine and Dentistry 2 14%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 1 7%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 1 7%
Unknown 3 21%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 June 2018.
All research outputs
#18,637,483
of 23,088,369 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
#3,271
of 7,001 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#254,906
of 329,782 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
#52
of 58 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,088,369 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 11th percentile – i.e., 11% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,001 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.2. This one is in the 37th percentile – i.e., 37% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 329,782 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 12th percentile – i.e., 12% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 58 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.