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Endothelial cell sensing of flow direction.

ABSTRACT: Atherosclerosis-prone regions of arteries are characterized by complex flow patterns where the magnitude of shear stress is low and direction rapidly changes, termed disturbed flow. How endothelial cells sense flow direction and how it impacts inflammatory effects of disturbed flow are unknown. We therefore aimed to understand how endothelial cells respond to changes in flow direction.Using a recently developed flow system capable of changing flow direction to any angle, we show that responses of aligned endothelial cells are determined by flow direction relative to their morphological and cytoskeletal axis. Activation of the atheroprotective endothelial nitric oxide synthase pathway is maximal at 180° and undetectable at 90°, whereas activation of proinflammatory nuclear factor-?B is maximal at 90° and undetectable at 180°. Similar effects were observed in randomly oriented cells in naive monolayers subjected to onset of shear. Cells aligned on micropatterned substrates subjected to oscillatory flow were also examined. In this system, parallel flow preferentially activated endothelial nitric oxide synthase and production of nitric oxide, whereas perpendicular flow preferentially activated reactive oxygen production and nuclear factor-?B.These data show that the angle between flow and the cell axis defined by their shape and cytoskeleton determines endothelial cell responses. The data also strongly suggest that the inability of cells to align in low and oscillatory flow is a key determinant of the resultant inflammatory activation.

SUBMITTER: Wang C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3812824 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Endothelial cell sensing of flow direction.

Wang Chong C Baker Brendon M BM Chen Christopher S CS Schwartz Martin Alexander MA

Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology 20130627 9

<h4>Objective</h4>Atherosclerosis-prone regions of arteries are characterized by complex flow patterns where the magnitude of shear stress is low and direction rapidly changes, termed disturbed flow. How endothelial cells sense flow direction and how it impacts inflammatory effects of disturbed flow are unknown. We therefore aimed to understand how endothelial cells respond to changes in flow direction.<h4>Approach and results</h4>Using a recently developed flow system capable of changing flow d ...[more]

PMID: 23814115

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Project description:This study characterizes the response of primary human endothelial cells (human umbilical vein endothelial cells, HUVECs) to the relative shear stress changes that occur during the initiation of arteriogenesis at the entrance regions to a collateral artery network. HUVECs were preconditioned to a baseline level of unidirectional shear of 15 dynes/cm2 for 24 hours. After 24 hours preconditioning, HUVECs were subjected to an arteriogenic stimulus that mimics the shear stress changes observed in the opposing entrance regions into a collateral artery network. The arteriogenic stimulus consisted of a 100% step wise increase in shear stress magnitude to a unidirectional 30 dynes/cm2 in either the same or opposite direction of the preconditioned shear stress. This simulates either the feeding entrance to the collateral artery circuit or the region that drains into the vasculature downstream of an obstruction in a major artery, respectively. In vivo analysis of collateral growth in the mouse hindlimb showed enhanced outward remodeling in the re-entrant (direction reversing) region that reconnects to the downstream arterial tree, suggesting reversal of shear stress direction as a key enhancer of arteriogenesis. Transcriptional profiling using microarray techniques identified that the reversal of shear stress direction, but not an increase in shear stress alone, yielded a broad-based enhancement of the mechanotransduction pathways necessary for the induction of arteriogenesis. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were preconditioned to a unidirectional clockwise shear stress of 15 dynes/cm2 for 24 hours. An acute increase in shear stress magnitude to 30 dynes/cm2 in either a clockwise (non-reversed) or counter-clockwise (reversed) direction was applied for 6 hours. An additional preconditioned control culture was maintained under a unidirectional clockwise shear stress of 15 dynes/cm2 and harvested at the same time point, 6 hours post-conditioning. Each condition of reversed, non-reversed, and control was performed in tandem from the same starting cell culture as one replicate. The total experiment consisted of four replicates. Gene transcription was then assessed using microarray expression analysis.

Dataset Information

Endothelial cell sensing of flow direction.

Publications

Endothelial cell sensing of flow direction.

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