Viscoelastic properties of cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells exposed to shear stress

On the role of the actin cytoskeleton and nucleus in the biomechanical response of spread cells

“…Due to the complexity of visualising MA of substrate adhered cells, previous MA studies have focused primarily on cells suspended in media. In particular, suspended endothelial cells [2][3][4], suspended chondrocytes [5][6][7], suspended stem cells [8], and suspended fibroblasts [9] have been tested using the MA technique. However such studies are of limited value as these cell phenotypes are typically not found suspended in vivo; rather, they adhere to an extra cellular matrix.…”

“…Previous studies have used simplified passive models analytical [3][4][5]28] or numerical models of passive homogeneous elastic or viscoelastic cells to interpret experimentally observed aspiration curves. Typically such studies report elastic or viscoelastic material parameters based on a curve fit of experimental results.…”

“…However, primarily due to the technical complexity of performing MA on cells adhered to a substrate or extra cellular matrix (ECM), the MA technique has largely been limited to the investigation of un-adhered cells suspended in media. Previous experimental MA studies have focused on suspended endothelial cells [2][3][4], suspended chondrocytes [5][6][7], suspended stem cells [8], and suspended fibroblasts [9]. Critically, in suspended cells a fibrillous contractile actin cytoskeleton is not developed [2,10].…”

Shear-induced force transmission in a multicomponent, multicell model of the endothelium

“…Responses of endothelial cells (ECs) to haemodynamic forces play a significant role in vascular health and disease [4][5][6][7][8][9]. It is well known that ECs transduce the fluid shear stress (FSS) resulting from blood flow into intracellular signals that affect gene expression and cellular functions such as proliferation, apoptosis, migration, permeability, cell alignment and mechanical properties [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. The activation of signalling pathways by shear forces arises at discrete locations in ECs by force amplification and forceinduced directional biasing of signal propagation [1][2][3][4][10][11][12][16][17][18][20][21][22][23].…”

Multi-scale interaction of particulate flow and the artery wall

“…In turn, wall topography must "two-way couple" to WSS. Phenomenologically, this coupling (of EC morphology with WSS) manifests itself in increasing WSS with changes in EC conformation (6): in vitro, ECs elongate, changing from a polygonal, 'cobblestone' morphology to flattened, elongated ovoids (Figures 2a, 2b), the degree of elongation correlating with the magnitude of the shear stress (7)(8)(9)(10). Note that WSS type, too, is relevant-under oscillatory shear, cultured cells retain a polygonal shape (8) and in vivo, ECs have been shown to orientate to the predominant local flow direction (11), perpendicular to the direction of cyclic stretch (12,13).…”