Browsing by Subject "Cells"
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Item Computer simulation of blood flow in microvessels and numerical experiments on a cell-free layer(2007-05) Jee, Sol Keun, 1979-; Moser, Robert deLanceySimulating blood flow in microvessels is a major challenge because of the numerous blood cells suspended in the blood. Furthermore, red blood cells (RBCs), which constitute 45% of the total blood volume, are highly deformable. RBCs deformation and RBC-RBC interactions determine the complex rheology of the blood. In this research, we simulate the blood flow in periodic two dimensional channels and conduct numerical experiments on the cell-free layer which appears near the wall. We use the boundary integral method and the smooth particle mesh Ewald method to represent the blood flow, and cells are modeled as deformable capsules. In the numerical experiments, we examine four possible mechanisms that may contribute to the cell-free layer: RBC deformation, RBC aggregation, configuration constraint, and the lubrication mechanism. Our simulations correctly represent hemodynamic phenomena such as the blunt velocity profile and the Fåhræus effect. We observed that more deformable RBCs migrate more away from the wall, and, consequently, the thickness of the cell-free layer increases. However, RBC aggregation increased the cell-free layer thickness by only 5%. In the experiment on the configuration constraint, no cell-free "layer" was detected when we removed cells which intersected an artificial constraint in the microvessel. In the last experiment on the lubrication mechanism, the cell-free layer disappeared at a no-shear stress boundary, and the hematocrit profile was similar to that in the constraint test. Therefore, this research clearly shows that the cell-free layer is generated by the lateral migration of deformable RBCs due to the lubrication mechanism.Item Free energy calculations of biopolymeric systems at cellular interface(2009-08) Yang, Tianyi; Zaman, Muhammad H. (Muhammad Hamid); Florin, Ernst-LudwigCells interact with both tethered and motile ligands in their extra-cellular environment, which mediates, initiates and regulates a series of cellular functions, such as cell adhesion, migration, morphology, proliferation, apoptosis, bi-directional signal transduction, tissue homeostasis, wound healing among others. A fundamental understanding of the thermodynamics of receptor-mediated cell interaction is necessary not only from the aspect of physiology, but also for bioengineering applications, e.g. drug discovery, tissue engineering and biomaterial fabrication. Our models on free energy calculations of receptor mediated cell-matrix interactions supplement computational endeavors based on continuum mechanics. By incorporating conformational, entropic, solvation, steric effect, implicit and explicit interactions of receptors and extra-cellular ligand molecules, we can predict free energy, chemical equilibrium constant of binding, spatial and conformational distributions of biopolymers, adhesion force as functions of a set of key variables, e.g. surface coverage of receptor, interaction distance between cell and substrate, specific binding energy, implicit interaction strength, constraint in ligand’s conformation, size of motile nano-ligand, aggregation of receptors, sliding velocity relative to fluid. Our work has improved understanding of phenomena in cell-matrix interactions at both cellular and the molecular scales.Item Remote quantitative transport and imaging investigations of small fluorescent molecular probes in an interstitial tissue model(Texas Tech University, 1998-08) Houlne, Michael PatrickThe diffusive transport characteristics of a unique class of small fluorescent molecular probes in an interstitial tissue model are investigated using micro-endoscopy. The probes employed in the present work are organo-metallic complexes of polyazamacrocycles chelated to Terbium. These particular molecules have large Stoke's shifts, making them amendable to tissue analysis. The delocalized electronic structure of the organic chelate absorbs ultra-violate light (~270 nm) and, after inter-molecular transfer, the lanthanide cation fluoresces in the visible region (550 nm). The diffusive transport properties of the probe molecules are related to their chemical structure, which governs their affinity toward the components of the interstitial model. The basic polyazamacrocyde is functionalized with three phosphate groups. Presently, methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl alkyl chains are added to the phosphate groups on the polyazamacrocyde to modify the affinity of the probes toward the components of the interstitial model. The interstitial tissue model is constructed by preparing a Type I collagen gel in phosphate buffer solution. Known quantities of the probe are injected into the gel and the resulting diffusive transport of the probe is digitally imaged through a micro-endoscope as a function of time. Microendoscopy coupled with digital imaging allows remote, quantitative analysis of the transport process in near real time. Cross sectional analysis of the images yields the concentration profile of the probe as it diffuses through the gel. The concentration profile is fit to Fick's second law of diffusion to determine the diffusion coefficient for each of the probe molecules.