Cardiovascular research from UT Austin biomedical engineers is displayed on the cover of the August 2018 issue of Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering.
Salma Ayoub's research led to a 3D rendering of the mitral valve microenvironment now on the cover of the August 2018 issue of Cellular and Biomolecular Engineering. She graduated with her Ph.D. in May 2018.
Research from UT Austin biomedical engineers is displayed on the cover of the August 2018 issue of Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering. The journal, sponsored by the Biomedical Engineering Society features a rendering of the mitral heart valve microenvironment from a recently published paper in the same issue titled: The Three-Dimensional Microenvironment of the Mitral Valve: Insights into the Effects of the Physiological Load.
The rendering, which shows an unprecedented level of detail and depth of mitral valve tissue is a result of experimental and computational research from Professor Michael Sacks' Willerson Center for Cardiovascular Modeling and Simulation.
We sat down with Salma Ayoub, the paper’s first author and 2018 doctoral graduate to learn more.
“The question that led to this paper started with Dr. Sacks asking us what the cells of the mitral valve sense and what surrounds them. In order to further tissue engineering in this field we need to know the answers to these questions,” Ayoub said.
While some aspects of the mitral valve microenvironment have been studied, a detailed understanding of the three-dimensional structures was lacking due to constraints in microscopy modalities. To address this, Ayoub and the team used focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) to reveal details of the mitral valve microenvironment at a much higher resolution than what would have been achievable through light or confocal microscopy.
A 3D reconstruction of a mitral valve cell and its surrounding microenvironment. The reconstruction captures the previously unrecognized complexity of the interconnection between the cell and the surrounding extracellular matrix with a high level of detail.
The results showed researchers the orientation of two main components of the mitral valve’s extracellular matrix: collagen and elastin.
“Knowing how these components are organized gives us a better mechanical understanding that will be essential to anyone who wants to better understand the mitral valve build models for tissue engineering purposes,” says Ayoub.
