Rongguang Xu, PhD

Rank

Fellow or Postdoc

Department

Surgery

Thoracic Surgery

Authors

Rongguang Xu*, PhD, Joseph Sutlive, PhD, Betty S. Liu, MD, Stacey A. Kwan, Jennifer M. Pan, MD, Kun Gou, PhD, Ali B. Ali, MD, Hassan A. Khalil, MD, Maximilian Ackermann, MD, Zi Chen, PhD, Steven J. Mentzer, MD

Principal Investigator

Zi Chen

Twitter / Website

Categories

Buckling forces and the wavy folds between pleural epithelial cells

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Abstract

Cell shapes in tissues are influenced by biophysical interactions, with forces affecting cell geometry and surface area. In this study, we examined the 2D shape, size, and perimeter of pleural epithelial cells at varying lung volumes. We found a 1.53-fold increase in cell surface area and a 1.43-fold increase in cell perimeter at total lung capacity compared to residual lung volume. Wavy folds between pleural cells were observed at all lung volumes. Using a physical model inspired by D’Arcy Thompson’s On Growth and Form, we hypothesized that these folds result from redundant cell membranes unable to contract. To test this hypothesis, we developed a numerical simulation to evaluate the impact of an increase in 2D cell surface area and cell perimeter on the shape of the cell-cell interface. Our simulation demonstrated that an increase in cell perimeter, rather than an increase in 2D cell surface area, had the most direct impact on the presence of wavy folds. We conclude that wavy folds between pleural epithelial cells reflects buckling forces arising from the excess cell perimeter necessary to accommodate visceral organ expansion.