Title :
Influence of collagen fiber architecture on calcific aortic valve disease progression
Author :
Baugh, Lauren ; Hinds, Phillip ; Huggins, Gordon ; Georgakoudi, Irene ; Black, Lauren D.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Biomed. Eng., Tufts Univ., Medford, MA, USA
Abstract :
To understand the causes and progression of calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD), several in vitro models were studied using non-invasive imaging techniques. Explanted rat aortic valve leaflets were placed in culture medium to induce calcium nodule formation and valve interstitial cells (VICs) cultured from explanted rat valve leaflets were placed on collagen polyacrylamide (PAAM) gels of varying stiffness. The Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) signal and two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) generated by the collagen and calcium nodules, respectively, demonstrated that collagen fiber organization decreases with disease progression. Finally, using confocal fluorescence imaging, we found that average nodule size increases with substrate stiffness.
Keywords :
biomechanics; biomedical optical imaging; cardiovascular system; cellular biophysics; diseases; elastic constants; fluorescence; molecular biophysics; optical harmonic generation; polymer gels; proteins; two-photon spectra; SHG; average nodule size; calcific aortic valve disease progression; calcium nodule formation; collagen fiber architecture; collagen fiber organization; collagen polyacrylamide gels; confocal fluorescence imaging; culture medium; explanted rat aortic valve leaflets; noninvasive imaging techniques; second harmonic generation signal; substrate stiffness; two-photon excited fluorescence; valve interstitial cells; Calcium; Diseases; Electronic countermeasures; Fluorescence; Microscopy; Valves; Calcific aortic valve disease; valve interstitial cells (VICs);
Conference_Titel :
Bioengineering Conference (NEBEC), 2014 40th Annual Northeast
Conference_Location :
Boston, MA
DOI :
10.1109/NEBEC.2014.6972724
