title: Biaxial mechanical properties of the inferior vena cava in C57BL/6 and CB-17 SCID/bg mice.
abstract: Multiple murine models have proven useful in studying the natural history of neovessel development in the tissue engineering of vascular grafts. Nevertheless, to better understand longitudinal changes in the biomechanics of such neovessels, we must first quantify native tissue structure and properties. In this paper, we present the first biaxial mechanical data for, and nonlinear constitutive modeling of, &QJ;the inferior vena cava from two models used in tissue engineering: wild-type C57BL/6 and immunodeficient CB-17 SCID/bg mice. Results show that inferior vena cava from the latter are significantly stiffer in the circumferential direction, both materially (as assessed by a stored energy function) and structurally (as assessed by the compliance), despite a lower intramural content of fibrillar collagen and similar wall thickness. Quantifying the natural history of neovessel development in different hosts could lead to increased insight into the mechanisms by which cells fashion and maintain extracellular matrix in order to match best the host stiffness while ensuring sufficient vascular integrity.
authors.affiliation: Tissue Engineering Program and Surgical Research, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA. yongung.lee@nationwidechildrens.org
authors.forename: Y U
authors.initials: YU
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Naito
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kurobe
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Breuer
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Humphrey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D016513:Mice, SCID; D008954:Models, Biological; D013045:Species Specificity; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Biaxial mechanical testing; Inferior vena cava; Strain energy; Tissue engineered vascular graft; Transgenic mice