MECHANOTRANSDUCTION OF THE CELL AND ITS PRIMARY CILIUM IN THE MICROFLUIDIC CHANNEL

Cells usually live in a complex physiological environment. The primary cilium, which is a an important organelle of the cell, is attached to the cell surface and is regard as an important mechanical signal sensor to help living cell receive various external mechanical signals, the primary cilium is considered to be closely related to physiological activities such as metabolism, development, division and proliferation of the living cell. In order to study the mechanotransduction behavior of the living cell and the primary cilium growing on its surface in a microfluidic environment, this paper established the adherent cells within a rectangular microfluidic control channel model system, cells with poroviscoelastic properties are in a culture solution driven by the pressure gradient and electric field driven loads. The mechanical signal responses of cytoplasm and nucleus of cells such as the stress, strain, pore fluid pressure and pore fluid velocity under oscillatory laminar flow were investigated, as the mechanical signal's receptors of the living cell, the primary cilium's biomechanical behavior was quantitatively investigated. The results show that the mechanical response of the living cell under an oscillating laminar flow field has the same oscillating law as the synchronous external the pressure gradient and electric field driven loads. The permeability of the living cell is one of the most important physical parameters affecting the cell's poroviscoelastic behavior. Primary cilium is the main mechanoreceptor organelle. The living cell can adjust their mechanical sensitivity (stress-affected zone) by changing the length and diameter of its primary cilium. With the increase of the length of the primary cilium, the flexural rigidity of the primary cilium decreases, but the sensitivity increases. The establishment of the model provides a basis for further research on the microscopic mechanisms of cell growth and differentiation under the loading of microfluidic shear stress, and also provides theoretical technical support for testing the microstructure mechanical properties of the cell anticipates (protein chains such as primary cilium).