Formation of an Artificial Blood Vessel: Adhesion Force Measurements with Optical Tweezers

摘要

We are investigating the formation of a tissue capsule around a foreign body. This tissue capsule can be used as an autologous graft for the replacement of diseased blood vessels or for bypass surgery. The graft is grown in the peritoneal cavity of the recipient and the formation starts with the adhesion of cells to the foreign body. We identify the cell type and measure the adhesion of these cells to foreign materials using optical tweezers. Cell adhesion to macroscopic samples and microspheres is investigated. No difference in the adhesion force was measurable for polyethylene, silicon and Tygon on a scale accessible to optical tweezers. The density of adherent cells was found to vary strongly, being highest on polyethylene. The mean rupture forces for cell-microsphere adhesion ranged from 24 to 39 pN and changed upon preadsorption of bovine serum albumin. For plain microspheres, the highest mean rupture force was found for PMMA, which also showed the highest adhesion probability for the cell-microsphere interaction.