The effect of mechanical forces on the morphology of a lung epithelial cell line

It is widely accepted that mechanical forces play a major role in lung development. We have previously shown that pulmonary hypoplasia caused by decreased fluid pressure in an Oligohydramnios murine model results in significant changes in the morphology of the lung spaces and the pulmonary epithelial cells. Here, we tested the effect of mechanical forces on the morphology of lung epithelial cells in vitro by applying cyclic stretch forces on cultured lung epithelial cells lines. Cells subjected to mechanical forces were compared to static cells. The cells were imaged and analyzed using different morphometric descriptors of size and shape. Our results show a significant change in the morphometry of lung epithelial cells in response to mechanical stress, where cells subjected to mechanical forces are larger and more regular than static cells as measured by fractal dimension. These findings add to the evidence that mechanical forces contribute to lung development and structure and suggest the usefulness of in vitro models for preclinical studies of lung biology.