Variation in wall shear stress in channel networks of zebrafish models.
Physiological functions of vascular endothelial cells (ECs) vary depending on wall shear stress (WSS) magnitude, and the functional change affects the pathologies of various cardiovascular systems. Several in vitro and in vivo models have been used to investigate the functions of ECs under different WSS conditions. However, these models have technical limitations in precisely mimicking the physiological environments of ECs and monitoring temporal variations of ECs in detail. Although zebrafish (Danio rerio) has several strategies to overcome these technical limitations, zebrafish cannot be used as a perfect animal model because applying various WSS conditions on blood vessels of zebrafish is difficult. This study proposes a new zebrafish model in which various WSS can be applied to the caudal vein. The WSS magnitude is controlled by blocking some parts of blood-vessel networks. The accuracy and reproducibility of the proposed method are validated using an equivalent circuit model of blood vessels in zebrafish. The proposed method is applied to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated zebrafish as a typical application. The proposed zebrafish model can be used as an in vivo animal model to investigate the relationship between WSS and EC physiology or WSS-induced cardiovascular diseases.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), San 31, Hyoja-dong, Pohang 790-784, South Korea.
Woorak
W
Choi
Division of Integrative Biosciences and Biotechnology (IBB), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, South Korea.
Hye Mi
HM
Kim
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), San 31, Hyoja-dong, Pohang 790-784, South Korea.
Sungho
S
Park
School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea.
Eunseop
E
Yeom
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), San 31, Hyoja-dong, Pohang 790-784, South Korea.
Junsang
J
Doh
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), San 31, Hyoja-dong, Pohang 790-784, South Korea sjlee@postech.ac.kr.
Sang Joon
0000-0003-3286-5941
SJ
Lee
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D033081:Shear Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D014680:Veins / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000502:physiology*
blood-vessel network; endothelial cells; wall shear stress; zebrafish