Key result
Wider arterial bifurcation angles increase simulated disturbed flow and suppress smooth muscle calcium signaling.
Why the study?
The effect of arterial bifurcation angulation on atherosclerosis development and associated coronary smooth muscle cell calcium dynamics was not well understood.
Should not yet inform clinical decisions; leaves open whether bifurcation geometry warrants prospective validation or risk stratification.
This work investigates the effect of arterial bifurcation angulation on atherosclerosis development through in-silico simulations of coupled cell dynamics. The computational model presented here combines cellular pathways, fluid dynamics, and physiologically-realistic vessel geometries as observed in the human vasculature. The coupled cells model includes endothelial cells (ECs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) with ion dynamics, hetero and homotypic coupling, as well as electro-diffusive coupling. Three arterial bifurcation surface models with were used in the coupled cells simulations. All three simulations showed propagating waves of Ca2+ in both the SMC and EC layers, following the introduction of a luminal agonist, in this case ATP. Immediately following the introduction of ATP concentration Ca2+ waves propagate from the area of high ATP concentration towards the areas of low ATP concentration, forming complex patterns where waves interact with eachother, collide and fade. These dynamic phenomena are repeated with a series of waves of slower in velocity. The underlying motivation of this research was to examine the macro-scale phenomena, given that the characteristic length scales of atherosclerotic plaques are much larger than a single cell. The micro-scale dynamics were modelled on macro-scale arterial bifurcation surfaces containing over one million cells. The results of the simulations presented here suggest that susceptibility to atherosclerosis development depends on the bifurcation angulation. In conjunction with findings reported in the literature, the simulation results demonstrate that arterial bifurcations containing wider angles have a more prominent influence the coupled cells pathways associated with the development of atherosclerosis, by means of disturbed flow and lower SMC Ca2+ concentrations. The discussion of the results considers the findings of this research within the context of the potential link between information transport through frequency encoding of Ca2+ wave dynamics and development of atheroprone conditions.
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Dowding et al. (2018) studied Atherosclerosis. Arterial bifurcation angulation vs. Different bifurcation angles (50°, 80°, 110°) was evaluated on Calcium (Ca2+) wave dynamics and concentrations in smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells. In-silico simulations demonstrated that wider arterial bifurcation angles result in more disturbed flow and lower smooth muscle cell calcium concentrations, increasing susceptibility to atherosclerosis.
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