Reinhart-King Cynthia A, Fujiwara Keigi, Berk Bradford C
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.
Methods Enzymol. 2008;443:25-44. doi: 10.1016/S0076-6879(08)02002-8.
Although the vasculature was once thought to be a passive conduit for blood, it is now known that the endothelium is responsible for healthy vascular homeostasis and the progression of many cardiovascular-related diseases. Because the endothelium lines blood vessels, it is subjected to the mechanical forces due to of blood flow. It is now well established that endothelial cells transduce these mechanical signals into chemical signals that are evident in the mechanoregulation of a number of signal transduction pathways and endothelial cell phenotype. Despite the significant volume of work in the field of endothelial cell mechanotransduction, the exact mechanism by which mechanical forces are sensed and transduced into chemical signals is not yet well established. In this chapter, we focus on the specific role of fluid shear stress, the frictional drag force caused by blood flow, and cyclic stretch caused by the pumping action of the heart, in regulating vascular homeostasis and vascular signaling. The regulation of flow-mediated signaling in the endothelium is typically studied with well-characterized in vitro flow and stretch devices. Here, we examine various platforms used to analyze flow-mediated and stretch-mediated signals and describe the method for the implementation of these techniques.
尽管血管系统曾被认为是血液的被动管道，但现在已知内皮细胞负责维持健康的血管稳态以及许多心血管相关疾病的发展。由于内皮细胞衬于血管内壁，它会受到血流产生的机械力作用。目前已经明确，内皮细胞将这些机械信号转化为化学信号，这在许多信号转导途径和内皮细胞表型的机械调节中很明显。尽管在内皮细胞机械转导领域已经开展了大量工作，但机械力被感知并转化为化学信号的确切机制尚未完全明确。在本章中，我们重点关注流体剪切应力（由血流引起的摩擦阻力）以及心脏泵血作用引起的周期性拉伸在调节血管稳态和血管信号传导中的具体作用。内皮细胞中流动介导信号传导的调节通常使用特征明确的体外流动和拉伸装置进行研究。在此，我们研究用于分析流动介导和拉伸介导信号的各种平台，并描述实施这些技术的方法。
