http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov – Numerous aspects of vascular homeostasis are modulated by nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species (ROS). The production of these is dramatically influenced by mechanical forces imposed on the endothelium and vascular smooth muscle. In this review, we will discuss the effects of mechanical forces on the expression of the endothelial cell nitric oxide synthase, production of ROS and modulation of endothelial cell glutathione. Read more »

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov – Understanding how vascular wall endothelial cells (ECs), smooth muscle cells (SMCs), and fibroblasts (FBs) sense and transduce the stimuli of hemodynamic forces (shear stress, cyclic strain, and hydrostatic pressure) into intracellular biochemical signals is critical to prevent vascular disease development and progression. ECs lining the vessel lumen directly sense alterations in blood flow shear stress and then communicate with medial SMCs and adventitial FBs to regulate vessel function and disease. Shear stress mechanotransduction in ECs has been extensively studied and reviewed. Read more »

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov – Forces that are associated with blood flow are major determinants of vascular morphogenesis and physiology. Blood flow is crucial for blood vessel development during embryogenesis and for regulation of vessel diameter in adult life. It is also a key factor in atherosclerosis, which, despite the systemic nature of major risk factors, occurs mainly in regions of arteries that experience disturbances in fluid flow. Read more »

http://www.pnas.org – Atherosclerotic lesion localization to regions of disturbed flow within certain arterial geometries, in humans and experimental animals, suggests an important role for local hemodynamic forces in atherogenesis. To explore how endothelial cells (EC) acquire functional/dysfunctional phenotypes in response to vascular region-specific flow patterns, we have used an in vitro dynamic flow system to accurately reproduce arterial shear stress waveforms on cultured human EC and have examined the effects on EC gene expression by using a high-throughput transcriptional profiling approach. Read more »

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov – Vascular endothelial cell migration, which plays an important role in vascular remodeling, is known to be regulated by hemodynamic forces in the blood vessels. When shear stress is applied on mouse microvessel endothelial cells (bEnd.3) in vitro, cells exhibit upstream migration behavior with respect to the direction of the flow. To determine how shear stress magnitude influences mechanotaxis of the cells, endothelial cells were exposed to different magnitudes of unidirectional shear stress. Read more »