Quantifying the Mechanical Properties of the Endothelial Glycocalyx with Atomic Force Microscopy

Summary

The mechanical characteristics of endothelial glycocalyx were measured by indentation using micron sized spheres on AFM cantilevers. Endothelial cells were cultured in a custom chamber under physiological flow conditions to induce glycocalyx expression. Data were analyzed using a thin film model to determine the glycocalyx thickness and modulus.

Abstract

Our understanding of the interaction of leukocytes and the vessel wall during leukocyte capture is limited by an incomplete understanding of the mechanical properties of the endothelial surface layer. It is known that adhesion molecules on leukocytes are distributed non-uniformly relative to surface topography ³, that topography limits adhesive bond formation with other surfaces ⁹, and that physiological contact forces (≈ 5.0 − 10.0 pN per microvillus) can compress the microvilli to as little as a third of their resting length, increasing the accessibility of molecules to the opposing surface ^{3, 7}. We consider the endothelium as a two-layered structure, the relatively rigid cell body, plus the glycocalyx, a soft protective sugar coating on the luminal surface ⁶. It has been shown that the glycocalyx can act as a barrier to reduce adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelial surface ⁴. In this report we begin to address the deformability of endothelial surfaces to understand how the endothelial mechanical stiffness might affect bond formation. Endothelial cells grown in static culture do not express a robust glycocalyx, but cells grown under physiological flow conditions begin to approximate the glycocalyx observed in vivo ². The modulus of the endothelial cell body has been measured using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to be approximately 5 to 20 kPa ⁵. The thickness and structure of the glycocalyx have been studied using electron microscopy ⁸, and the modulus of the glycocalyx has been approximated using indirect methods, but to our knowledge, there have been no published reports of a direct measurement of the glycocalyx modulus in living cells. In this study, we present indentation experiments made with a novel AFM probe on cells that have been cultured in conditions to maximize their glycocalyx expression to make direct measurements of the modulus and thickness of the endothelial glycocalyx.

Protocol

1. Methods

1.1 Cell Flow Chamber

A flow chamber, shown in Figure 1, was constructed so that cells could be grown under a shear of 1.0 Pa (10 dyn/cm²) and then transferred directly to an Asylum MFP3D AFM (Santa Barbara, CA).

1. The flow chamber was prepared for the experiment by first cleaning the glass slides in piranha solution (3:1 H₂SO₄:H₂O₂) for 15 min and then washing them with di.......

Discussion

We used values calculated from the two-layer model and Hertz theory to model the interaction of a leukocyte circulating in the blood with the endothelial wall. We have calculated that a microvillus on the leukocyte with a diameter of 50 nm under a 10 pN load would indent approximately 150 nm into the glycocalyx, only a fraction of the total thickness. This indicates that the glycocalyx, with properties as measured in this experiment, is a significant barrier to cell-cell interaction and can be a large steric hindrance wh.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Name of Reagent/Material	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
McCoy's Medium	Gibco	16600-082
Fetal Calf Serum	Hyclone	SH30070
Endothelial Cell Growth Medium	Vec Technologies	MCDB-131
Pooled Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells	Vec Technologies	PHUVEC/T-25
Sulfuric Acid	JT Baker	9681-02
Hydrogen Peroxide	VWR	BDH3742-1
(3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane	Aldrich	440140-100ML
Isopropyl Alcohol	VWR	BDH8999-4
Trypsin	Cellgro	25-054-C1
Hank's Buffered Salt Solution	Gibco	14175-095
sulfo-NHS-LC-Biotin	Thermo Scientific	21335
Streptavadin beads	Dynabeads	112.06D
MFP-3D AFM	Asylum Research
Tipless Cantilevers	Nanoworld	ARROW-TL1-50
Silhouette SD	Quickutz	Silhouette-SD
Silicone Rubber	Stockwell Elastomerics	SE50-RS
30 ml Syringes	Benton Dickinson	309650
18 gauge needles	Benton Dickinson	305196
Extension Sets	Hospira	4429-48
4 way valves	Teleflex	W21372
Male/Female Port Caps	Smith's Medical	MX491B
Peristaltic Pump	Watson-Marlow	401U/D
Peristaltic Tubing	Watson-Marlow	903.0016.016
sterile filters	Pall Life Science	4652