scholarly journals The shear stress of it all: the cell membrane and mechanochemical transduction

2007 ◽  
Vol 362 (1484) ◽  
pp. 1459-1467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles R White ◽  
John A Frangos

As the inner lining of the vessel wall, vascular endothelial cells are poised to act as a signal transduction interface between haemodynamic forces and the underlying vascular smooth-muscle cells. Detailed analyses of fluid mechanics in atherosclerosis-susceptible regions of the vasculature reveal a strong correlation between endothelial cell dysfunction and areas of low mean shear stress and oscillatory flow with flow recirculation. Conversely, steady shear stress stimulates cellular responses that are essential for endothelial cell function and are atheroprotective. The molecular basis of shear-induced mechanochemical signal transduction and the endothelium's ability to discriminate between flow profiles remains largely unclear. Given that fluid shear stress does not involve a traditional receptor/ligand interaction, identification of the molecule(s) responsible for sensing fluid flow and mechanical force discrimination has been difficult. This review will provide an overview of the haemodynamic forces experienced by the vascular endothelium and its role in localizing atherosclerotic lesions within specific regions of the vasculature. Also reviewed are several recent lines of evidence suggesting that both changes in membrane microviscosity linked to heterotrimeric G proteins, and the transmission of tension across the cell membrane to the cell–cell junction where known shear-sensitive proteins are localized, may serve as the primary force-sensing elements of the cell.

Author(s):  
Steven F. Kemeny ◽  
Alisa Morss Clyne

Endothelial cells line the walls of all blood vessels, where they maintain homeostasis through control of vascular tone, permeability, inflammation, and the growth and regression of blood vessels. Endothelial cells are mechanosensitive to fluid shear stress, elongating and aligning in the flow direction [1–2]. This shape change is driven by rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton and focal adhesions [2]. Hyperglycemia, a hallmark of diabetes, affects endothelial cell function. High glucose has been shown to increase protein kinase C, formation of glucose-derived advanced glycation end-products, and glucose flux through the aldose reductase pathway within endothelial cells [3]. These changes are thought to be related to increased reactive oxygen species production [4]. While endothelial cell mechanics have been widely studied in healthy conditions, many disease states have yet to be explored. Biochemical alterations related to high glucose may alter endothelial cell mechanics.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 308-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Bin Liao ◽  
Miaoling Li ◽  
Min Cheng ◽  
Yong Fu ◽  
...  

1981 ◽  
Author(s):  
M A Gimbrone ◽  
C F Dewey ◽  
P F Davies ◽  
S R Bussolari

The vascular endothelial lining in vivo is constantly subjected to hemodynamic shear stresses resulting from normal and altered patterns of blood flow. To facilitate the study of effects of fluid shear stress on endothelial cell structure and function, we have developed an in vitro system, utilizing a cone-plate apparatus, to subject coverslip cultures of bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC) to controlled levels of shear (up to 102 dynes/cm2) in either laminar or turbulent flow. The magnitude and direction of shear stress within the system are accurately known from both theory and experimental measurements. The data reported here are for laminar flow. Subconfluent BAEC cultures continuously exposed to 1-5 dynes/cm2 shear proliferated at a rate comparable to that of static cultures, and postconfluent monolayers appeared unaltered morphologically for up to 1 week. In contrast, BAEC cultures (both postconfluent and subconfluent) exposed to 8 dynes/cm2 developed dramatic, time-dependent morphological changes. By 48 hrs, cells uniformly assumed an ellipsoidal configuration, with their major axes aligned in the direction of flow. Exposure to >10 dynes/cm2 caused variable cell detachment from plain glass substrates. Cellular migration into linear “wounds”, created in confluent areas, was influenced by both the direction and amplitude of applied shear. Exposure to 8 dynes/ cm2 induced functional alterations, including increased fluid (bulk phase) endocytosis, prostaglandin production and platelet reactivity. These observations indicate that fluid mechanical forces can directly influence endothelial cell structure and function. Hemodynamic modulation of endothelial cell behavior may be relevant to normal vessel wall physiology, as well as the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and thrombosis.


Author(s):  
Takeshi Tokunaga ◽  
Koji Mori ◽  
Hiroko Kadowaki ◽  
Takashi Saito

Abstract Cardiovascular disease that is one of Non-Communicable Disease accounts for about 25% of death in Japan. Prevention of arteriosclerosis that is a main cause of cardiovascular disease is important. Since an early lesions of arteriosclerosis progress as functional change of an endothelial cell that is uniformly distributed on the luminal surface of a blood vessel, an accurate evaluation of the endothelial cell function is important as prevention of the arteriosclerosis. Although Flow-Mediated Dilation (FMD) is widely used as a diagnosis of the endothelial cell function in clinic, it is an evaluation method that uses a static diameter of a blood vessel. Moreover, it isn’t possible to take into account individual difference of a wall shear stress on the endothelial cell. In previous study, it is found that an evoked hyperemic wall shear stress is a major correlate of %FMD. In order to accurately measure the endothelial cell function, it is necessary to simply assess the hyperemic shear stress during FMD. However, it is difficult to non-invasively measure the hyperemic shear stress on the endothelial cell in clinic. In this study, we focused on a blood pressure data that is obtained non-invasively and formulated a relationship between the pressure and a flow velocity based on the coupled wave theory. And we estimated a hyperemic shear stress by using a blood pressure data that is obtained by a tonometry method in experiment that simulate FMD. As a result of estimating the hyperemic shear stress, it reflected characteristics of blood flow in clinic. It may be necessary to consider the hyperemic pressure fluctuation that is waves including low frequency components. Moreover, the hyperemic pressure fluctuation should not be treated as a waveform that has individually different a static pressure in estimation of the hyperemic wall shear stress.


Author(s):  
Hojin Kang ◽  
Kayla J. Bayless ◽  
Roland Kaunas

We have previously developed a cell culture model to study the effects of angiogenic factors, such as sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), on the invasion of endothelial cells into the underlying extracellular matrix. In addition to biochemical stimuli, vascular endothelial cells are subjected to fluid shear stress due to blood flow. The present study is aimed at determining the effects of fluid shear stress on endothelial cell invasion into collagen gels. A device was constructed to apply well-defined fluid shear stresses to confluent human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) seeded on collagen gels. Fluid shear stress induced significant increases in cell invasion with a maximal induction at ∼5 dyn/cm2. These results provide evidence that fluid shear stress is a significant stimulus for endothelial cell invasion and may play a role in regulating angiogenesis.


2021 ◽  
pp. mbc.E20-11-0698
Author(s):  
Kevin B. Denis ◽  
Jolene I. Cabe ◽  
Brooke E. Danielsson ◽  
Katie V. Tieu ◽  
Carl R. Mayer ◽  
...  

The Linker of Nucleoskeleton and Cytoskeleton (LINC) complex is a structure consisting of nesprin, SUN, and lamin proteins. A principal function of the LINC complex is anchoring the nucleus to the actin, microtubule, and intermediate filament cytoskeletons. The LINC complex is present in nearly all cell types, including endothelial cells. Endothelial cells line the inner most surfaces of blood vessels, and are critical for blood vessel barrier function. In addition, endothelial cells have specialized functions, including adaptation to the mechanical forces of blood flow. Previous studies have shown that depletion of individual nesprin isoforms results in impaired endothelial cell function. To further investigate the role of the LINC complex in endothelial cells we utilized dominant negative KASH (DN-KASH), a dominant negative protein which displaces endogenous nesprins from the nuclear envelope and disrupts nuclear-cytoskeletal connections. Endothelial cells expressing DN-KASH had altered cell-cell adhesion and barrier function, as well as altered cell-matrix adhesion and focal adhesion dynamics. In addition, cells expressing DN-KASH failed to properly adapt to shear stress or cyclic stretch. DN-KASH expressing cells exhibited impaired collective cell migration in wound healing and angiogenesis assays. Our results demonstrate the importance of an intact LINC complex in endothelial cell function and homeostasis. [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text]


1981 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. F. Dewey ◽  
S. R. Bussolari ◽  
M. A. Gimbrone ◽  
P. F. Davies

We have developed an in-vitro system for studying the dynamic response of vascular endothelial cells to controlled levels of fluid shear stress. Cultured monolayers of bovine aortic endothelial cells are placed in a cone-plate apparatus that produces a uniform fluid shear stress on replicate samples. Subconfluent endothelial cultures continuously exposed to 1–5 dynes/cm2 shear proliferate at a rate comparable to that of static cultures and reach the same saturation density (≃ 1.0–1.5 × 105 cells/cm2). When exposed to a laminar shear stress of 5–10 dynes/cm2, confluent monolayers undergo a time-dependent change in cell shape from polygonal to ellipsoidal and become uniformly oriented with flow. Regeneration of linear “wounds” in confluent monolayer appears to be influenced by the direction of the applied force. Preliminary studies indicate that certain endothelial cell functions, including fluid endocytosis, cytoskeletal assembly and nonthrombogenic surface properties, also are sensitive to shear stress. These observations suggest that fluid mechanical forces can directly influence endothelial cell structure and function. Modulation of endothelial behavior by fluid shear stresses may be relevant to normal vessel wall physiology, as well as the pathogenesis of vascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis.


Biology Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. bio034215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth W. Fearnley ◽  
Izma Abdul-Zani ◽  
Antony M. Latham ◽  
Monica C. Hollstein ◽  
John E. Ladbury ◽  
...  

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