(290c) Invited: Micro and Nanoscale Fluid Shear Stimulation To Direct Stem Cell Differentiation

The role of fluid shear forces in stimulating changes in cells has been well documented in several contexts.  However, these studies are typically carried out with cells that are plated and spread on two-dimensional surfaces.  Comparatively little is known about the impact of fluid shear forces on cells that are in suspension, particularly those cell types that are not normally present in circulating blood in vivo.  This presentation will describe how simple microfluidic shear stimulation platforms along with low fluid flow rates can cause observable changes such as gene and surface marker expression.  In human mesenchymal stem cells, such stimulation may accelerate soluble factor-mediated differentiation toward the adipogenic lineage.  In cells derived from mouse embryos, such shear stimulation may accelerate differentiation toward hematopoietic lineages.  Indeed such shear stimulation is known to occur in vivo in the embryo as a result of precise fluid flows generated upon initiation of the heartbeat.  Our in vitro observations will be discussed in the context of what is currently known about such in vivo phenomena.