Feel the Pulse: Smooth Muscle Cells Respond to Stretching Forces

Feel the Pulse: Smooth Muscle Cells Respond to Stretching Forces

Collections: Image Award Winners

2013 Award Winner

Kwabena Badu-Nkansah
Hynes Laboratory

Koch Institute at MIT, MIT Department of Biology

The smooth muscle cells that surround human arteries experience constant pulsating forces as the heart contracts and relaxes. When scientists study these cells, however, they often run their experiments on a rigid plastic plate. Here, researchers attempt to create a more natural environment for the cells using an elastic silicon membrane. By stretching and contracting the membrane, they can observe how healthy and diseased blood vessels respond to the same types of pressures they would experience inside the body.

Video

Kwabena Badu-Nkansah tells the story behind his award-winning image.