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. 2021 Oct 29;9:764516. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.764516

FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 2

Extracellular mechanical forces in vivo and organ-on-a-chip models for virology in vitro. (A) Extracellular mechanical forces existing in the human body. Extrinsic physical parameters are ubiquitous in vivo like topography of the substrate formed by ECM, shear stress from fluid flow, tensile or compressive forces, and 3D ECM. (B) Physiological microenvironment in the human pulmonary alveoli. Shear force generated by blood flow and tensile force exerted on the alveolar cavity are important mechanical parameters for respiratory virus infection. (C) Schematic diagram of lung-on-a-chip. Adapted from ref. (Si et al., 2021). This biochip reconstituted the alveolar microenvironment including simulating blood flow and air exchange. (D) Physiological microenvironment in human liver sinusoid. Adapted from ref. (Ehrlich et al., 2019). Shear stress derived from biological flow is a crucial factor for maintaining the differentiation of hepatocytes in vitro. (E) Schematic diagram of a dual channel microdevice mimicking hepatic sinusoid. Adapted from ref. (Kang et al., 2015). (F) Schematic diagram of another liver-on-a-chip. Adapted from ref. (Ortega-Prieto et al., 2018).