Lansman J B, Hallam T J, Rink T J
Nature. 1987;325(6107):811-3. doi: 10.1038/325811a0.
Endothelial cells line the inner surface of blood vessels and act as the main barrier to the passage of cells and large molecules from the blood stream to the tissues. Recent interest in the part played by the endothelium in regulating vascular tone has focused on the synthesis and secretion of prostacyclin and an endothelium-derived relaxing factor. Endothelial cells respond to blood-borne agonist, but how the endothelium senses and responds to mechanical forces generated by the flow of blood under pressure is not known. Here we report patch-clamp recordings of ion channel activity from cell-attached membrane patches on aortic endothelial cells. In most of the patches examined, we observed unitary inward currents associated with the opening of a cation-selective channel (approximately 40 pS in standard saline). The channel is permeable to Ca2+ and its opening frequency increases when the membrane is stretched by applying suction through the patch electrode. The presence of mechanotransducing ion channels in endothelial cells may help explain how the endothelium mediates vascular responses to haemodynamic stresses.
内皮细胞排列在血管内表面，是阻止细胞和大分子从血流进入组织的主要屏障。最近对内皮细胞在调节血管张力中所起作用的关注集中在前列环素和一种内皮衍生舒张因子的合成与分泌上。内皮细胞对血源性激动剂有反应，但内皮如何感知并响应压力下血流产生的机械力尚不清楚。在此，我们报告了对主动脉内皮细胞上细胞贴附膜片的离子通道活性进行膜片钳记录的结果。在大多数所检测的膜片中，我们观察到与一个阳离子选择性通道开放相关的单位内向电流（在标准盐溶液中约为40皮安）。该通道对Ca2+通透，当通过膜片电极施加吸力使膜拉伸时，其开放频率增加。内皮细胞中机械转导离子通道的存在可能有助于解释内皮如何介导血管对血流动力学应激的反应。
