AUTHOR=Navarrete Álvaro , Varela Pablo , López Miguel , García-Herrera Claudio M. , Celentano Diego J. , Krause Bernardo 

TITLE=Characterization of the active response of a guinea pig carotid artery

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2022.924019

DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2022.924019

ISSN=2296-4185

ABSTRACT=This work presents a characterization of the active response of the carotid artery
of guinea pig fetuses through a methodology that encompasses experiments, modeling
and numerical simulation. To this end, the isometric contraction test is carried out
in ring samples subjected to different levels of KCl concentrations and pre-stretching.
Then, a coupled mechanochemical model, aimed at describing the smooth cell behavior
and its influence on the passive and active mechanical response of the vascular tissue,
is calibrated from the experimental measurements. Due to the complex stress and
strain fields developed in the artery, a finite element numerical simulation of the test is
performed to fit the model parameters, where those related to the phosphorylation and
dephosphorylation activity along with the load-bearing capacity of the myosin crossbridges are found to be the most predominant when sensitilizing the active response.
The main strengths of the model are associated to the prediction of the stationary state
of the active mechanical response of the tissue through of a realistic description of the
mechanochemical process carried out at its cellular level.