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Poster Session 6, 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM: Room 163 [C10]

Presenter: Cecilia Rose Labbe

Faculty Sponsor: Govind Srimathveeravalli

School: UMass Amherst

Research Area: Biomedical Engineering

ABSTRACT

Pulsed electric fields (PEF) are known to affect the cytoskeleton of epithelial and endothelial cells, triggering actin remodeling and the internalization of gap junctions. I hypothesized that such changes in cells within the endothelial layer would disrupt barrier function, increasing the transport of molecules. A microphysiological system (MPS) representing an arteriole was built to test this hypothesis. A screening experiment was performed to assess the relationship between PEF energy dose and the severity of changes in barrier function in endothelial layers using the MPS chip. Permeability trackers 10kDa FITC Dextran (FITC) and 70kDa Rhodamine Dextran (Rhod) were used to capture the kinetics of barrier function change and transport across the layer. Treating with chips with PEF at 25 bursts using a moderate field strength of 500 v/cm showed a 41.6% increase in the diffusion of FITC and a 30.5% increase in Rhod diffusion. Increasing the field strength to 1000 v/cm showed an 84.8% increase in FITC transport and a 71.9% increase in Rhod transport through the vessel. The data for FITC, as compared to the Rhod, showed more movement through the vessel wall since smaller molecules experience less difficulty in diffusion. Using MPS, I have shown that a temporary increase in vessel permeability can be achieved using PEF without destroying vessel wall integrity long-term. The results show that this technique could be used for direct delivery of drugs to specific sites in the body.