Evaluating Primary Blast Effects <em>In Vitro</em>

Abstract

Exposure to blast events can cause severe trauma to vital organs such as the lungs, ears, and brain. Understanding the mechanisms behind such blast-induced injuries is of great importance considering the recent trend towards the use of explosives in modern warfare and terrorist-related incidents. To fully understand blast-induced injury, we must first be able to replicate such blast events in a controlled environment using a reproducible method. In this technique using shock tube equipment, shock waves at a range of pressures can be propagated over live cells grown in 2D, and markers of cell viability can be immediately analyzed using a redox indicator assay and the fluorescent imaging of live and dead cells. This method demonstrated that increasing the peak blast overpressure to 127 kPa can stimulate a significant drop in cell viability when compared to untreated controls. Test samples are not limited to adherent cells, but can include cell suspensions, whole-body and tissue samples, through minor modifications to the shock tube setup. Replicating the exact conditions that tissues and cells experience when exposed to a genuine blast event is difficult. Techniques such as the one presented in this article can help to define damage thresholds and identify the transcriptional and epigenetic changes within cells that arise from shock wave exposure.

Demethylation of ITGAV accelerates osteogenic differentiation in a blast-induced heterotopic ossification in vitro cell culture model

“…A compressed air-driven shock tube (length 4.13 m, internal diameter 59 mm) was used to propagate a shock wave over cells seeded in a 35 mm dish loaded onto an ex vivo organ culture (EVOC) rig located at the end of the shock tube as previously described [ 50 ]. Briefly, cells were seeded in 35 mm Petri dishes 24 h prior to shock wave exposure and incubated at standard culture conditions overnight.…”

Chromatin accessibility profiling reveals that human fibroblasts respond to mechanical stimulation in a cell specific manner

“…To evaluate this, DP and PFi cells were exposed to a single 165 kPa SW using a custom built shock tube [20]. Immediately after this, OM was added to the cells and 24 hours later, DNA and RNA were isolated to generate ATAC and RNA-seq libraries.…”

“…DP and PFi cells were seeded into 35mm petri dishes at 7 x 10 4 cells per dish and left overnight in standard culture conditions of 37°C, 5% CO2 in a humidified environment. The following day, using a compressed air-driven shock tube, cells were exposed to one 165kPa shock wave as previously described [13,20]. Medium was changed to either GM or OM immediately following shock wave exposure.…”

Global gene expression profiling of blast lung injury of goats exposed to shock wave

“… 4 , 5 , 6 The shock waves produced by explosion firstly reach up to the peak of overpressure in the form of a positive pressure and then decline rapidly to form a negative pressure, 7 which can cause a series of injuries, including the serious damage to lung, gastrointestinal tract, hearing organ, and other gas-containing organs. 5 , 8 Apnea, bradycardia and hypotension are the three most typical characteristics of lung blast injury. 9 Unfortunately, it is difficult to find the possible causes of lung damage exposed to shock waves and is likely to require novel techniques to elucidate the underlying mechanism.…”