Cardiac cell mechanics at the single cell level

The analysis of the cellular microenvironment is an area that has received much attention recently in the study of the tractions cells use for locomotion. Specifically, the study of cardiac cell mechanics is of particular interest as cardiac dysfunction is one of the leading causes of death in America. This progression is fueled by the need to have a system capable of reproducing mechanical environments before, during and after a dysfunctional event in order to fully characterize the causes and prevent any permanent damage. The current study proposes a system capable of providing quantitative measurements of the cellular microenvironment while concurrently allowing the same environment to be spatially controlled through collagen deposition and alignment. In this study, we have developed a system capable of characterizing the mechanical environment of contractile cardiac myocytes and migratory cardiac fibroblasts while concurrently allowing for fine control over cell position and alignment using a combination of Traction Force Microscopy with a deformable substrate and Finite Element Analysis. The results of this study indicate that this system can be applied to the study of the mechanical nature of cardiac dysfunctions like hypertrophy, myocardial infarction and hypertension.