Cyclic stretch and interstial sitffness effects on A549 cells

The mechanical properties and forces in the extracellular environment surrounding alveolar epithelial cells modulate their behavior. Particularly, breathing applies 3-dimensional cyclic stretch to the cells, while diseases such as cancer or fibrosis induce stiffening of the interstitium. To model this behavior, a biomimetic device was developed that effectively imitates the active forces in the alveolus, while allowing one to control the interstitium matrix stiffnesses to recreate different mechanical environments to replicate lung diseases. Alveolar epithelial A549 cancer cells were cultured on the platforms and their transcriptome was profiled using RNA sequencing. A549 cells were grown in three conditions, tissue culture plastic and biomimetic devices that have 3D cyclic stretch (15% strain 0.2 Hz) with either stiff (50 kPa) or soft (5 kPa) membranes. The cells were then collected after 7 days of the resepective treatment and RNA was collected and then sequenced.