AVS 50th International Symposium
    Biomaterial Interfaces Tuesday Sessions
       Session BI-TuM

Paper BI-TuM1
Modulation of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Behavior by Tuning Substrate Compliance

Tuesday, November 4, 2003, 8:20 am, Room 307

Session: Cell/Surface Interactions
Presenter: J.Y. Wong, Boston University
Authors: X.Q. Brown, Boston University
J.Y. Wong, Boston University
Correspondent: Click to Email
During the development of vascular occlusive disease, abnormal vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and deposition of extracellular matrix leads to hardening of the vessel. Recent studies have shown that changes in substrate compliance affect cell adhesion, migration and differentiation in several different cell types. However, effects of substrate stiffness on the behavior of VSMCs have not yet been investigated. Using polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS), we are able to create substrates with Young's modulus ranging from 3x10@super 4@ Pascal (Pa) to 2x10@super 6@ Pa, which is the range of elasticity that has been reported for a human aorta. We found that changes in substrate compliance affect the behavior of VSMCs. There is a 0.7 fold increase in cell number attached to stiff substrata (2x10@super 6@ Pa) compared to soft substrata (3x10@super 4@ Pa) and a 0.8 fold increase in cell area on stiff substrata. However, the rate of VSMC proliferation on stiff substrata is only 66% that of VSMC on soft substrata. Our results show that VSMCs are capable of sensing and responding to changes in substrate compliance in a range that is physiologically relevant, and PDMS is a useful tool to study the effect of substrate compliance on cell behavior. Our results support our hypothesis that during the development of vascular occlusive disease, changes in VSMC behavior leads to changes in the biochemical and biophysical properties of the vessel, which in turn influence the behavior of VSMCs.