Optimizing the ECM Pattern of 2D Tissues for the Study of Pulmonary Fibrosis

Abstract

Approximately 5 million individuals worldwide suffer from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), an interstitial lung disorder, which causes progressive scarring of lung tissue that is generally irreversible and affects the ability of get enough oxygen into the bloodstream. To better understand the mechanisms of IPF it is necessary to understand the contractile forces in fibrotic lung cells in relation to that of healthy lung cells. Professor Patrick Alford uses a microfabricated thin film technique that he developed to analyze the cell traction forces in engineered tissus in which he constructs a 2-D engineered tissue on a flexible polymer beam, whose curvature can then be used to calculate the cell traction forces from the engineered tissue. For the thin film method to work properly the tissue must be highly aligned and confluent. My research involved finding the extra cellular micro-pattern that optimizes tissue alignment and confluence for measurements of traction forces of fibrotic lung cells.