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 »

The endothelium, once thought to be a passive, non-thrombogenic barrier, is now recognized as being a dynamic participant in vascular biology and pathobiology. Part of its dynamic nature is due to the influence of the mechanical environment imposed by the hemodynamics of the vascular system. Over the past two decades much has been learned about the influence of hemodynamics on the vascular endothelium. Read more »