Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Department of

 

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2017

Citation

Annals of Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 45, No. 4, April 2017 (copyright 2016) pp. 898–909

Comments

Copyright 2016 The Author(s).

Open access

DOI: 10.1007/s10439-016-1750-z

Abstract

Exposure of endothelial cells to low and multidirectional blood flow is known to promote a pro-atherogenic phenotype. The mechanics of the vessel wall is another important mechano-stimulus within the endothelial cell environment, but no study has examined whether changes in the magnitude and direction of cell stretch can be pro-atherogenic. Herein, we developed a custom cell stretching device to replicate the in vivo stretch environment of the endothelial cell and examined whether low and multidirectional stretch promote nuclear translocation of NF-kB. A fluid–structure interaction model of the device demonstrated a nearly uniform strain within the region of cell attachment and a negligible magnitude of shear stress due to cyclical stretching of the cells in media. Compared to normal cyclical stretch, a low magnitude of cyclical stretch or no stretch caused increased expression of nuclear NF-kB (p = 0.09 and ppp

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