A microfluidic device for investigating mechanical-stress on stem cells

Stem cells have the ability to differentiate into different types of cells by stimulating their environment, including growth factors, specific hormones, or mechanical forces. One of the most important factors that physically stimulate the cells is shear stress produced by body’s interstitial flow. The low shear stress created by this flow plays a very important role in transmitting cell’s mechanical signals, which are transformed by biochemical signals into cellular responses. The integration of microfluidics and cell biology has not only altered cell culture in the exogenous state but also provides valuable tools for mechano-biological processes. In this conference, we design a microfluidic device as a platform which simulates mechanical shear stress stimulation and has a potential to generate multiple low shear stresses in the chambers. The effect of interstitial flow on mesenchymal stem cells is presented in ITERM 2018 conference report

Keywords:

Microfluidics , Shear stress , Mesenchymal stem cells