PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Bryan Falcones Olarte
AU  - Linda Elowsson Rendin
AU  - Anna Löfdahl
AU  - Isaac Almendros Lopez
AU  - Jorge Otero
AU  - Xiao-Hong Zhou
AU  - Martin Silverborn
AU  - Leif Bjermer
AU  - Göran Dellgren
AU  - Ramon Farré
AU  - Gunilla Westergren-Thorsson
TI  - Late Breaking Abstract - IPF lung-ECM subjected to cyclic stretch affect cellular activity
AID  - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2020.4320
DP  - 2020 Sep 07
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 4320
VI  - 56
IP  - suppl 64
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/suppl_64/4320.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/suppl_64/4320.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2020 Sep 07; 56
AB  - Introduction: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) involves extensive remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM), primarily in the periphery of the lung. This leads to altered mechanical properties, which in turn results in altered mechanical stimulation of the cells. In stiffer and less elastic ECM found in IPF, fibroblasts are thus exposed to altered strain compared to a healthy ECM. Our aim is to investigate the impact of mechanical stimulation on fibroblasts activity in IPF.Methods: IPF and healthy distal lung tissue were decellularized in slices (350 mm) to produce acellular lung scaffolds. The scaffolds were attached to a custom-made device for cyclic stretch built in polydimethylsiloxane and repopulated with healthy primary distal lung fibroblasts. The scaffolds were either exposed to cyclic stretch (0.2 Hz, 10% strain) or cultured under static conditions upto 3 days and analyzed for cell viability, histology, RNA expression, and released mediators.Results: Compared to healthy scaffolds, fibroblasts on IPF scaffolds showed increased metabolic activity, both at static and cyclic stretch condition. Scaffolds under cyclic stretch showed preserved tissue morphology with dispersed elongated fibroblasts shown with H&E staining. Interestingly, we see a shift in released mediators linked to angiogenesis in cyclic stretch cultures, mostly pronounced in IPF scaffolds.Discussion: We demonstrate that we have developed a physiological more relevant ex vivo model to study cellular responses in lung tissue. Our data indicate that there is a change in cellular activity in IPF tissue under cyclic stretch. This allows us to study the effect of alterations in mechanical and matrisome properties in chronic lung disease.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 4320.This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).