Abstract
Innovative research on the interactions between biomechanical load and cardiovascular (CV) morphogenesis by multiple investigators over the past 3 decades, including the application of bioengineering approaches, has shown that the embryonic heart adapts both structure and function in order to maintain cardiac output to the rapidly growing embryo. Acute adaptive hemodynamic mechanisms in the embryo include the redistribution of blood flow within the heart, dynamic adjustments in heart rate and developed pressure, and beat to beat variations in blood flow and vascular resistance. These biomechanically relevant events occur coincident with adaptive changes in gene expression and trigger adaptive mechanisms that include alterations in myocardial cell growth and death, regional and global changes in myocardial architecture, and alterations in central vascular morphogenesis and remodeling. These adaptive mechanisms allow the embryo to survive these biomechanical stresses (environmental, maternal) and to compensate for developmental errors (genetic). Recent work from numerous laboratories shows that a subset of these adaptive mechanisms is present in every developing multicellular organism with a “heart” equivalent structure. This chapter will provide the reader with an overview of some of the approaches used to quantify embryonic CV functional maturation and performance, provide several illustrations of experimental interventions that explore the role of biomechanics in the regulation of CV morphogenesis including the role of computational modeling, and identify several critical areas for future investigation as available experimental models and methods expand.
Highlights
The heart and vasculature is the first organ system to form and the only one which is required to function successfully throughout embryonic and fetal life for survival (Burggren and Keller, 1998)
This review presents an overview of approaches to study hemodynamics and CV morphogenesis in the embryo and how they have contributed to our current understanding of developmental CV biomechanics
Experiments with mouse and chick embryos demonstrate the utility of Doppler-optical coherence tomography (OCT) to obtain blood flow velocities at various locations, including the outflow tract and dorsal aorta (Larina et al, 2008; Rugonyi et al, 2008; Jenkins et al, 2010). μPIV analysis of flow within the HH15 chick ventricle revealed a laminar regime, but an asymmetric velocity profile skewed toward the inner curvature of the heart (Vennemann et al, 2006)
Summary
The heart and vasculature is the first organ system to form and the only one which is required to function successfully throughout embryonic and fetal life for survival (Burggren and Keller, 1998). Apart from Doppler methods, micro particle image velocimetry (μPIV) has been used to measure blood flow velocities in chick and zebrafish embryos.
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