KAIST Team Develops Breakthrough Imaging Technology to Study Stress Effects on Blood Vessels | Be Korea-savvy

KAIST Team Develops Breakthrough Imaging Technology to Study Stress Effects on Blood Vessels


Scientists at KAIST have developed a novel imaging technique that allows real-time observation of cellular movements within blood vessels under stress conditions. (Image courtesy of KAIST)

Scientists at KAIST have developed a novel imaging technique that allows real-time observation of cellular movements within blood vessels under stress conditions. (Image courtesy of KAIST)

DAEJEON, Jan. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Scientists at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a novel imaging technique that allows real-time observation of cellular movements within blood vessels under stress conditions, a team of researchers announced on January 20. 

Working in collaboration with researchers from Korea University Guro Hospital, the team, led by Yu Hongki of KAIST, has created a pioneering in-vivo imaging system that overcomes previous limitations in studying cardiovascular responses to stress.

The development is particularly significant given that cardiovascular diseases account for 30% of global deaths, making them the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Research has shown that psychological stress can significantly exacerbate these conditions. 

Acute stress triggers the sympathetic nervous system to release norepinephrine, which affects vascular endothelial cells and promotes inflammation. It also activates hematopoietic stem cells, increasing immune cell production. Until now, observing these processes in real-time has been challenging due to blood vessel movement caused by heartbeats. 

The research team’s breakthrough involves incorporating a tunable-focus lens into an in-vivo optical microscope to compensate for blood vessel movement. The lens, filled with transparent fluid, can rapidly adjust focal length through electrical signals that alter the elastic membrane’s curvature radius without mechanical movement. The team explained that clear images are achieved by synchronizing the heartbeat signals with the lens’s focus adjustment. 

This new approach addresses limitations of traditional methods, which either required physical fixation of blood vessels or captured images at specific time points, potentially affecting blood flow or compromising temporal resolution.

Using this technology, the team observed immune cell movement within blood vessels under chronic stress conditions. Their findings revealed that stress significantly increases immune cell adhesion to vessel walls while decreasing cell migration speed. 

A five-week longitudinal study demonstrated that the effects of chronic stress intensify over time, leading to increased instability of atherosclerotic plaques. The researchers found that stressed mice showed a sixfold increase in bone marrow cell infiltration in their carotid arteries compared to the control group, allowing quantitative assessment of atherosclerosis progression. 

“This technology enables us to observe immune cell movements within blood vessels in their natural state, something that was previously difficult to achieve,” said Yu. “This breakthrough will improve our understanding of how stress contributes to cardiovascular disease development and could lead to new therapeutic strategies for stress-related cardiovascular conditions.”

Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com) 

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