Lymph Node Subcapsular Sinus Microenvironment-On-A-Chip Modeling Shear Flow Relevant to Lymphatic Metastasis and Immune Cell Homing
Katherine G. Birmingham,
Meghan J. O'Melia,
Samantha Bordy,
David Reyes Aguilar,
Bassel El-Reyas,
Gregory Lesinski,
Susan N. Thomas
Affiliations
Katherine G. Birmingham
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, IBB 2310 315 Ferst Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Meghan J. O'Melia
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Samantha Bordy
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
David Reyes Aguilar
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, IBB 2310 315 Ferst Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Bassel El-Reyas
Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Gregory Lesinski
Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Susan N. Thomas
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, IBB 2310 315 Ferst Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: A lymph node sinus-on-a-chip adhesion microfluidic platform that recapitulates the hydrodynamic microenvironment of the lymph node subcapsular sinus was engineered. This device was used to interrogate the effects of lymph node remodeling on cellular adhesion in fluid flow relevant to lymphatic metastasis. Wall shear stress levels analytically estimated and modeled after quiescent and diseased/inflamed lymph nodes were experimentally recapitulated using a flow-based microfluidic perfusion system to assess the effects of physiological flow fields on human metastatic cancer cell adhesion. Results suggest that both altered fluid flow profiles and presentation of adhesive ligands, which are predicted to manifest within the lymph node subcapsular sinus as a result of inflammation-induced remodeling, and the presence of lymph-borne monocytic cells may synergistically contribute to the dynamic extent of cell adhesion in flow relevant to lymph node invasion by cancer and monocytic immune cells during lymphatic metastasis.
