Biomechanical Characterization of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: The Rupture Mechanism
In this work, a four-week-old male C57Bl/6 mouse model of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) was developed to examine the AAA rupture mechanism. Immunofluorescence staining was adopted for quantifying the degradation of elastin, and Picrosirius Red staining was adopted for evaluating the density of col...
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/2/613 |
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| author | Yingnan Zhai Ana Isabel Delgado Mahyar Sameti Pengfei Dong Wanfen Xiong Chris A. Bashur Linxia Gu |
| author_facet | Yingnan Zhai Ana Isabel Delgado Mahyar Sameti Pengfei Dong Wanfen Xiong Chris A. Bashur Linxia Gu |
| author_sort | Yingnan Zhai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this work, a four-week-old male C57Bl/6 mouse model of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) was developed to examine the AAA rupture mechanism. Immunofluorescence staining was adopted for quantifying the degradation of elastin, and Picrosirius Red staining was adopted for evaluating the density of collagen. Atomic force microscopy with two probe tip sizes of 5 µm and 20 nm was adopted for mechanical characterization of the AAA. The microstructure changes and stiffness changes in both AAA samples and controlled samples were inspected. The degradation of elastin, wall thickening, formation of micro vessels, and increased density of collagen were observed in the AAA samples. The AAA samples also exhibited fragmented texture from AFM scanning. The histogram of stiffness measurements of the AAA samples with a 20 nm tip demonstrated two unique peak frequencies of stiffness intervals (0–10 kPa and 40–50 kPa). The stiffer regions were correlated with the increased density of collagen, as shown in the immunofluorescence images. The softer regions, combined with the fragmented texture, could be the key index contributing to the initiation and propagation of AAA rupture. Overall, the AAA group showed a higher stiffness than the control group (50.77 ± 62.4 kPa vs. 40.6 ± 51.86 kPa). The findings from this work may help in explaining ruptures in small AAA (<5.5 mm), which account for ten percent of all AAA ruptures. Additionally, the observations in this study may help develop early detection methods and innovative treatments for AAA. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:58:50Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:58:50Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-7bef526e3b614f9f91fbb8a76257cbb82024-01-29T13:43:07ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172024-01-0114261310.3390/app14020613Biomechanical Characterization of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: The Rupture MechanismYingnan Zhai0Ana Isabel Delgado1Mahyar Sameti2Pengfei Dong3Wanfen Xiong4Chris A. Bashur5Linxia Gu6Department of Biomedical Engineering and Science, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering and Science, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering and Science, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering and Science, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USADepartment of Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering and Science, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering and Science, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USAIn this work, a four-week-old male C57Bl/6 mouse model of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) was developed to examine the AAA rupture mechanism. Immunofluorescence staining was adopted for quantifying the degradation of elastin, and Picrosirius Red staining was adopted for evaluating the density of collagen. Atomic force microscopy with two probe tip sizes of 5 µm and 20 nm was adopted for mechanical characterization of the AAA. The microstructure changes and stiffness changes in both AAA samples and controlled samples were inspected. The degradation of elastin, wall thickening, formation of micro vessels, and increased density of collagen were observed in the AAA samples. The AAA samples also exhibited fragmented texture from AFM scanning. The histogram of stiffness measurements of the AAA samples with a 20 nm tip demonstrated two unique peak frequencies of stiffness intervals (0–10 kPa and 40–50 kPa). The stiffer regions were correlated with the increased density of collagen, as shown in the immunofluorescence images. The softer regions, combined with the fragmented texture, could be the key index contributing to the initiation and propagation of AAA rupture. Overall, the AAA group showed a higher stiffness than the control group (50.77 ± 62.4 kPa vs. 40.6 ± 51.86 kPa). The findings from this work may help in explaining ruptures in small AAA (<5.5 mm), which account for ten percent of all AAA ruptures. Additionally, the observations in this study may help develop early detection methods and innovative treatments for AAA.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/2/613abdominal aortic aneurysmrupture predictionatomic force microscopymechanical characterizationhistological analysis |
| spellingShingle | Yingnan Zhai Ana Isabel Delgado Mahyar Sameti Pengfei Dong Wanfen Xiong Chris A. Bashur Linxia Gu Biomechanical Characterization of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: The Rupture Mechanism Applied Sciences abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture prediction atomic force microscopy mechanical characterization histological analysis |
| title | Biomechanical Characterization of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: The Rupture Mechanism |
| title_full | Biomechanical Characterization of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: The Rupture Mechanism |
| title_fullStr | Biomechanical Characterization of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: The Rupture Mechanism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Biomechanical Characterization of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: The Rupture Mechanism |
| title_short | Biomechanical Characterization of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: The Rupture Mechanism |
| title_sort | biomechanical characterization of abdominal aortic aneurysm the rupture mechanism |
| topic | abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture prediction atomic force microscopy mechanical characterization histological analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/14/2/613 |
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