The effect of the rate of hydrostatic pressure depressurization on cells in culture

Changes in hydrostatic pressure, at levels as low as 10 mm Hg, have been reported in some studies to alter cell function in vitro; however, other studies have found no detectable changes using similar methodologies. We here investigate the hypothesis that the rate of depressurization, rather than el...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2018-01, Vol.13 (1), p.e0189890-e0189890
Main Authors: Tworkoski, Ellen, Glucksberg, Matthew R, Johnson, Mark
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actin
Aorta
Apoptosis
Atmospheric pressure
Biology and Life Sciences
Biomedical engineering
Cell culture
Cell growth
Cell viability
Change detection
Endothelial cells
Engineering
Experiments
Gas flow
Gene expression
Humidity
Hydrostatic pressure
Hypoxia
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mercury
Penicillin
Physical Sciences
Pressure effects
Pressure reduction
Research and Analysis Methods
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Summary:Changes in hydrostatic pressure, at levels as low as 10 mm Hg, have been reported in some studies to alter cell function in vitro; however, other studies have found no detectable changes using similar methodologies. We here investigate the hypothesis that the rate of depressurization, rather than elevated hydrostatic pressure itself, may be responsible for these reported changes. Hydrostatic pressure (100 mm Hg above atmospheric pressure) was applied to bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs) and PC12 neuronal cells using pressurized gas for periods ranging from 3 hours to 9 days, and then the system was either slowly (~30 minutes) or rapidly (~5 seconds) depressurized. Cell viability, apoptosis, proliferation, and F-actin distribution were then assayed. Our results did not show significant differences between rapidly and slowly depressurized cells that would explain differences previously reported in the literature. Moreover, we found no detectable effect of elevated hydrostatic pressure (with slow depressurization) on any measured variables. Our results do not confirm the findings of other groups that modest increases in hydrostatic pressure affect cell function, but we are not able to explain their findings.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0189890