Aibhlin Esparza | University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) (original) (raw)
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Papers by Aibhlin Esparza
ACS applied bio materials, May 22, 2024
Molecular biology reports, Feb 1, 2024
Vascular diseases are the underlying pathology in many life-threatening illnesses. Human cellular... more Vascular diseases are the underlying pathology in many life-threatening illnesses. Human cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in angiogenesis are complex and difficult to study in current 2D in vitro and in vivo animal models. Engineered 3D in vitro models that incorporate human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) derived endothelial cells (ECs) and supportive biomaterials within a dynamic microfluidic platform provide a less expensive, more controlled, and reproducible platform to better study angiogenic processes in response to external chemical or physical stimulus. Current studies to develop 3D in vitro angiogenesis models aim to establish single-source systems by incorporating hPSC-ECs into biomimetic extracellular matrices (ECM) and microfluidic devices to create a patient-specific, physiologically relevant platform that facilitates preclinical study of endothelial cell-ECM interactions, vascular disease pathology, and drug treatment pharmacokinetics. This review provides a detailed description of the current methods used for the directed differentiation of human stem cells to endothelial cells and their use in engineered 3D in vitro angiogenesis models that have been developed within the last 10 years.
SN Applied Sciences
This study presents the development and morphology analysis of bioinspired 3D cardiovascular tiss... more This study presents the development and morphology analysis of bioinspired 3D cardiovascular tissue models cultured within a dynamic capillary circuit microfluidic device. This study is significant because our in vitro 3D cardiovascular tissue models retained within a capillary circuit microfluidic device provide a less expensive, more controlled, and reproducible platform for more physiologically-relevant evaluation of cellular response to microenvironmental stimuli. The overall aim of our study is to demonstrate our cardiovascular tissue model (CTM) and vascular tissue model (VTM) actively changed their cellular morphology and exhibited structural reorganization in response to biophysical stimuli provided by microposts within the device tissue culture chambers during a 5-day period. The microfluidic device in this study was designed with the Young–Laplace and Navier–Stokes principles of capillary driven fluid flow and fabricated with 3D stereolithography (SLA) printing. The cardia...
Human cardiovascular tissue and diseases are difficult to study for novel drug discovery and fund... more Human cardiovascular tissue and diseases are difficult to study for novel drug discovery and fundamental cellular/molecular processes due to limited availability of physiologically-relevant models in vitro.[1–3] Animal models may resemble human heart structure, however there are significant differences from human cardiovascular physiology including biochemical signaling, and gene expression.[4–6] In vitro microfluidic tissue models provide a less expensive, more controlled, and reproducible platform for better quantification of isolated cellular processes in response to biochemical or biophysical stimulus.[6–12] The capillary driven-flow microfluidic device in this study was manufactured with a 3D stereolithography (SLA) printed mold and is a closed circuit system operating on principles of capillary action allowing continuous fluid movement without external power supply. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human cardiomyocytes (AC16) were encapsulated into a fibrin ...
Research Square (Research Square), Mar 17, 2023
Human cardiovascular tissue and diseases are di cult to study for novel drug discovery and fundam... more Human cardiovascular tissue and diseases are di cult to study for novel drug discovery and fundamental cellular/molecular processes due to limited availability of physiologically-relevant models in vitro.[1-3] Animal models may resemble human heart structure, however there are signi cant differences from human cardiovascular physiology including biochemical signaling, and gene expression.[4-6] In vitro micro uidic tissue models provide a less expensive, more controlled, and reproducible platform for better quanti cation of isolated cellular processes in response to biochemical or biophysical stimulus.[6-12] The capillary driven-ow micro uidic device in this study was manufactured with a 3D stereolithography (SLA) printed mold and is a closed circuit system operating on principles of capillary action allowing continuous uid movement without external power supply. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human cardiomyocytes (AC16) were encapsulated into a brin hydrogel to form vascular (VTM) and cardiac (CTM) tissue models respectively. To determine response to biophysical stimulus, the 3D cardiovascular tissue was directly loaded into the device tissue culture chambers that either had no microposts (DWoP) or microposts (DWPG) for 1, 3 and 5 days. The tissues were analyzed with uorescent microscopy for morphological differences, average tube length, and cell orientation between tissues cultured in both conditions. In DWPG VTMs displayed capillary-like tube formation with visible cell alignment and orientation, while AC16s continued to elongate around microposts by day 5. VTM and CTM models in devices with posts (DWPG) displayed cell alignment and orientation after 5 days, indicated the microposts induced biophysical cues to guide cell structure and speci c organization. Article Highlights A capillary driven-ow micro uidic platform is designed with and without microposts to evaluate changes to cell morphology. Two cell lines are evaluated for changes in cell morphology and orientation in platforms with and without microposts. A mechanically-responsive 3D cardiovascular tissue model is developed using a capillary-ow micro uidic platform.
Photoplethysmography (PPG) is an uncomplicated and inexpensive optical measurement method that is... more Photoplethysmography (PPG) is an uncomplicated and inexpensive optical measurement method that is often used for heart rate monitoring purposes. PPG is a non-invasive technology that uses a light source and a photodetector at the surface of skin to measure the volumetric variations of blood circulation. Recently, there has been much interest from numerous researchers around the globe to extract further valuable information from the PPG signal in addition to heart rate estimation and pulse oxymetry readings. PPG signal’s second derivative wave contains important health-related information. Thus, analysis of this waveform can help researchers and clinicians to evaluate various cardiovascular-related diseases such as atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness. Moreover, investigating the second derivative wave of PPG signal can also assist in early detection and diagnosis of various cardiovascular illnesses that may possibly appear later in life. For early recognition and analysis of such ...
ACS applied bio materials, May 22, 2024
Molecular biology reports, Feb 1, 2024
Vascular diseases are the underlying pathology in many life-threatening illnesses. Human cellular... more Vascular diseases are the underlying pathology in many life-threatening illnesses. Human cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in angiogenesis are complex and difficult to study in current 2D in vitro and in vivo animal models. Engineered 3D in vitro models that incorporate human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) derived endothelial cells (ECs) and supportive biomaterials within a dynamic microfluidic platform provide a less expensive, more controlled, and reproducible platform to better study angiogenic processes in response to external chemical or physical stimulus. Current studies to develop 3D in vitro angiogenesis models aim to establish single-source systems by incorporating hPSC-ECs into biomimetic extracellular matrices (ECM) and microfluidic devices to create a patient-specific, physiologically relevant platform that facilitates preclinical study of endothelial cell-ECM interactions, vascular disease pathology, and drug treatment pharmacokinetics. This review provides a detailed description of the current methods used for the directed differentiation of human stem cells to endothelial cells and their use in engineered 3D in vitro angiogenesis models that have been developed within the last 10 years.
SN Applied Sciences
This study presents the development and morphology analysis of bioinspired 3D cardiovascular tiss... more This study presents the development and morphology analysis of bioinspired 3D cardiovascular tissue models cultured within a dynamic capillary circuit microfluidic device. This study is significant because our in vitro 3D cardiovascular tissue models retained within a capillary circuit microfluidic device provide a less expensive, more controlled, and reproducible platform for more physiologically-relevant evaluation of cellular response to microenvironmental stimuli. The overall aim of our study is to demonstrate our cardiovascular tissue model (CTM) and vascular tissue model (VTM) actively changed their cellular morphology and exhibited structural reorganization in response to biophysical stimuli provided by microposts within the device tissue culture chambers during a 5-day period. The microfluidic device in this study was designed with the Young–Laplace and Navier–Stokes principles of capillary driven fluid flow and fabricated with 3D stereolithography (SLA) printing. The cardia...
Human cardiovascular tissue and diseases are difficult to study for novel drug discovery and fund... more Human cardiovascular tissue and diseases are difficult to study for novel drug discovery and fundamental cellular/molecular processes due to limited availability of physiologically-relevant models in vitro.[1–3] Animal models may resemble human heart structure, however there are significant differences from human cardiovascular physiology including biochemical signaling, and gene expression.[4–6] In vitro microfluidic tissue models provide a less expensive, more controlled, and reproducible platform for better quantification of isolated cellular processes in response to biochemical or biophysical stimulus.[6–12] The capillary driven-flow microfluidic device in this study was manufactured with a 3D stereolithography (SLA) printed mold and is a closed circuit system operating on principles of capillary action allowing continuous fluid movement without external power supply. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human cardiomyocytes (AC16) were encapsulated into a fibrin ...
Research Square (Research Square), Mar 17, 2023
Human cardiovascular tissue and diseases are di cult to study for novel drug discovery and fundam... more Human cardiovascular tissue and diseases are di cult to study for novel drug discovery and fundamental cellular/molecular processes due to limited availability of physiologically-relevant models in vitro.[1-3] Animal models may resemble human heart structure, however there are signi cant differences from human cardiovascular physiology including biochemical signaling, and gene expression.[4-6] In vitro micro uidic tissue models provide a less expensive, more controlled, and reproducible platform for better quanti cation of isolated cellular processes in response to biochemical or biophysical stimulus.[6-12] The capillary driven-ow micro uidic device in this study was manufactured with a 3D stereolithography (SLA) printed mold and is a closed circuit system operating on principles of capillary action allowing continuous uid movement without external power supply. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human cardiomyocytes (AC16) were encapsulated into a brin hydrogel to form vascular (VTM) and cardiac (CTM) tissue models respectively. To determine response to biophysical stimulus, the 3D cardiovascular tissue was directly loaded into the device tissue culture chambers that either had no microposts (DWoP) or microposts (DWPG) for 1, 3 and 5 days. The tissues were analyzed with uorescent microscopy for morphological differences, average tube length, and cell orientation between tissues cultured in both conditions. In DWPG VTMs displayed capillary-like tube formation with visible cell alignment and orientation, while AC16s continued to elongate around microposts by day 5. VTM and CTM models in devices with posts (DWPG) displayed cell alignment and orientation after 5 days, indicated the microposts induced biophysical cues to guide cell structure and speci c organization. Article Highlights A capillary driven-ow micro uidic platform is designed with and without microposts to evaluate changes to cell morphology. Two cell lines are evaluated for changes in cell morphology and orientation in platforms with and without microposts. A mechanically-responsive 3D cardiovascular tissue model is developed using a capillary-ow micro uidic platform.
Photoplethysmography (PPG) is an uncomplicated and inexpensive optical measurement method that is... more Photoplethysmography (PPG) is an uncomplicated and inexpensive optical measurement method that is often used for heart rate monitoring purposes. PPG is a non-invasive technology that uses a light source and a photodetector at the surface of skin to measure the volumetric variations of blood circulation. Recently, there has been much interest from numerous researchers around the globe to extract further valuable information from the PPG signal in addition to heart rate estimation and pulse oxymetry readings. PPG signal’s second derivative wave contains important health-related information. Thus, analysis of this waveform can help researchers and clinicians to evaluate various cardiovascular-related diseases such as atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness. Moreover, investigating the second derivative wave of PPG signal can also assist in early detection and diagnosis of various cardiovascular illnesses that may possibly appear later in life. For early recognition and analysis of such ...