| Abstract | Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can lead to early cardiovascular disease, which is the leading
cause of death in the world. The high phosphate imbalance present in CKD accelerates
calcification nucleation in exosomes. These exosomes, in turn, nucleate pathological
calcification in the arterial wall. In CKD, the stretching of the vascular smooth muscle cells
(VSMCs) due to hypertension may lead to a higher number of exosomes being secreted from
the cells, accelerating cardiovascular calcification. The objective of this study is to use
multifunctional nanopipettes, a novel biophysical technique, to compare and characterize
exosomes secreted from mechanically stretched vs. unstretched VSMCs. The multifunctional
nanopipettes, fabricated by pulling quartz theta capillary tubes with a laser pipette puller, consist
of a nanopore and a carbon nanoelectrode containing a pyrolytic carbon deposit. The exosomes
are loaded inside the nanopore barrel and driven out with an electric potential, allowing for the
nanopore to detect the size and quantity of the exosomes while the carbon nanoelectrode is
able to detect its charge. This procedure is conducted for both stretched and unstretched VSMC
exosomes. Compared to the exosomes collected from the unstretched VSMCs, exosomes from
the stretched VSMCs exhibit a higher frequency of signals collected by the nanopipette. They
also exhibit a greater charge than their counterparts. This suggests that the stretching of
vascular smooth muscle cells leads to a direct increase in secreted exosomes and plays a great
role in the calcification of the arterial wall.
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