title: Non-contact high-frequency ultrasound microbeam stimulation for studying mechanotransduction in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.
abstract: We describe how contactless high-frequency ultrasound microbeam stimulation (HFUMS) is capable of eliciting cytoplasmic calcium (Ca(2+)) elevation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The cellular mechanotransduction process, which includes cell sensing and adaptation to the mechanical micro-environment, has been studied extensively in recent years. A variety of tools for mechanical stimulation have been developed to produce cellular responses. We developed a novel tool, a highly focused ultrasound microbeam, for non-contact cell stimulation at a microscale. This tool, at 200 MHz, was applied to human umbilical vein endothelial cells to investigate its potential to elicit an elevation in cytoplasmic Ca(2+) levels. It was found that the response was dose dependent, and moreover, extracellular Ca(2+) and cytoplasmic Ca(2+) stores were involved in the Ca(2+) elevation. These results suggest that high-frequency ultrasound microbeam stimulation is potentially a novel non-contact tool for studying cellular mechanotransduction if the acoustic pressures at such high frequencies can be quantified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Information and Communication Engineering, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology, Daegu, Korea. Electronic address: jyhwang@dgist.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jae Youn
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Hae Gyun
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Chi Woo
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Kwok Ho
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Sangpil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Changyang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Chi Tat
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Bong Jin
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Hyung Ham
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: K Kirk
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Shung
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D019220:High-Energy Shock Waves; D061307:Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium
keywords: Calcium fluorescence imaging; High-frequency ultrasound microbeam; Human umbilical vein endothelial cells; Mechanotransduction