Parallel-plate flow chamber

The parallel plate fluid flow chamber is a benchtop (in vitro) model that simulates the fluid shear stress of various cell types exposed to dynamic fluid flow in their natural physiological environment.The metabolic response of cells in vitro is related to wall shear stress.A typical parallel-plate flow chamber consists of a polycarbonate dispenser, silicon gasket, and glass coverslip.The distributor forms one side of the parallel plate flow chamber and includes an inlet port, an outlet port, and a vacuum slot.The thickness of the gasket determines the height of the flow path.A glass coverslip forms the other side of the parallel-plate flow chamber and can be coated with extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, vascular cells,or biological material of interest.A vacuum creates a seal to secure the three parts and ensure a consistent channel height.Typically, fluid enters one side of the chamber and exits the opposite side.The upper plate is usually clear, while the bottom is the prepared surface on which cells have been cultured for a predetermined time.Observe cell behavior using transmitted or reflected light microscopy.

Advantages 

Parallel plate flow chambers, in their original design, are capable of generating well-defined wall shear stresses in the physiological range of 0.01-30 dyn/cm2.Shear stress is generated by passing a fluid (eg, anticoagulated whole blood or a suspension of isolated cells) through a chamber on an immobilized matrix under controlled kinematic conditions using a syringe pump.The advantages of parallel plate flow cells are:

1.It allows the study of the effect of constant shear stress on cells over a defined period of time.

2.The design,assembly and operation of the device are simple.

3.Cells can be grown under flow conditions and viewed under a microscope, or in real time using a video microscope

PPFC Design

The initial design of the parallel flow chamber was based on that described by Hochmuth and colleagues for the study of red blood cells.Parallel plate flow chambers were used in early studies of neutrophils by Wikinson et al. and Forrestor et al.Study their adhesive properties to absorbed plasma proteins.Lawrence et al. describes one of the first parallel flow chamber assays to study the adhesion of neutrophils to endothelial cells.Since these early studies,many researchers have utilized parallel-plate flow chambers and their modified versions to examine the kinetics of neutrophil adhesion to various substrates, including endothelial cells, platelets, leukocytes, transfected cell lines, and purified molecules.

Application

A parallel-plate flow chamber is a device widely used to study bench-top cell mechanics.Many researchers have used parallel-plate flow chambers to study the dynamic adhesion of leukocytes (leukocytes) and endothelial cells (cells lining blood vessels) under a certain shear stress.In particular, several studies have been carried out to investigate leukocyte receptor-ligand interactions.Interactions between cellular receptors (selectins and/or integrins) and their ligands mediate rolling and are thought to play an important role in leukocyte adhesion.Furthermore, many researchers have used parallel plate flow chambers to provide shear stress and mimic the environment in which cancer cells grow in vitro.It is a versatile tool for understanding the mechanisms of cancer cell proliferation, adhesion, and metastasis.Parallel plate flow chambers are also widely used in drug testing in cell chemotaxis assays and in novel targeted drug delivery systems based on the leukocyte-endothelium adhesion process.