Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation and Denser Extracellular Matrix Cause Cerebral Capillary Endothelial Cells to Lose Elasticity

Objective: Cerebral ischemia affects the mechano-response of vasculature and the remodeling of extracellular matrix (ECM) components. The present study investigates how oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) affects the brain endothelial cell (BEC) stiffness. We further aim to study whether ECM components affect the cellular stiffness in normal and energy deprived conditions. Methods: Primary human BECs received a 16h OGD followed by the reperfusion with normal culture media. Young’s Modulus (YM) and topography in the BEC surface were determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). To test the effect of ECM composition on the BEC stiffness, various concentrations (5-500 uM) of collagen type IV were used for culture dish coating. BECs on the coating beds underwent 16h OGD and served for YM measurements. Per dish, 10-20 single BECs were measured. Results: BECs under OGD conditions became significantly stiffer (2.1-fold, *P<0.05) than the normoxic control, and the increased stiffness sustained even after the reperfusion for 24h, indicating energy deprivation is a primary factor for the increased stiffness under acute stress conditions. AFM topography confirmed that OGD induced rough and filamentous plasma membrane surface in BECs, suggesting a cytoskeletal change was induced by OGD. BECs grown on a 10x denser collagen type IV (500 uM) layer showed a significant increase (2.3-fold, ***P<0.001) in cellular stiffness, compared with the conventional concentration of 50 uM, suggesting that denser extracellular matrix makes BEC stiffer. Also, in BECs cultured on a denser ECM layer, OGD response was absent in terms of cellular stiffness. Conclusion: The present study found that OGD increased BEC stiffness. In addition, increasing the density of the ECM alone was enough to generate stiffer BECs. These mechanical properties of BECs may be a physical factor mediating endothelial responses after stroke.