title: Effect of intraluminal pillars on particle motion in bifurcated microchannels.
abstract: A central feature of intussusceptive angiogenesis is the development of an intravascular pillar that bridges the opposing sides of the microvessel lumen. In this report, we created polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) microchannels with geometric proportions based on corrosion casts of the colon microcirculation. The structure of the PDMS microchannels was a bifurcated channel with an intraluminal pillar in the geometric center of the bifurcation. The effect of the intraluminal pillar on particle flow paths was investigated using an in vitro perfusion system. The microchannels were perfused with fluorescent particles, and the particle movements were recorded using fluorescence videomicroscopy. We found that the presence of an intravascular pillar significantly decreased particle velocity in the bifurcation system (p < 0.05). In addition, the pillar altered the trajectory of particles in the center line of the flow stream. The particle trajectory resulted in prolonged pillar contact as well as increased residence time within the bifurcation system (p < 0.001). Our results suggest that the intravascular pillar not only provides a mechanism of increasing resistance to blood flow but may also participate in spatial redistribution of cells within the flow stream.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Immunophysiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Aslihan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Turhan
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Moritz A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Konerding
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Lino
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Miele
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Mentzer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D055806:Microvessels / Q000502:physiology*; D009038:Motion; D012212:Rheology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes