The study objectives were to quantify the time- and magnitude-dependence of flow-induced alignment in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) and to identify pathways related to the orientation process. Using an intensity gradient method, we demonstrated that SMC aligned in the direction perpendicular to applied shear stress, which contrasts with parallel alignment of endothelial cells under flow. SMC alignment varied with the magnitude of and exposure time to shear stress and is a continuous process that is dependent on calcium and cycloskeleton based mechanisms. A clear understanding and control of flow-induced SMC alignment will have implications for vascular tissue engineering.

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Keywords:
muscle, cellular biophysics, biological tissues, stress analysis, flow, biomechanics, Shear Stress, Smooth Muscle Cell, Cell Mechanics, Cell Alignment
Topics:
Flow (Dynamics), Fluid dynamics, Fluids, Particle filtering (numerical methods), Shear stress, Sheet molding compound (Plastics), Sliding mode control, Surface mount components, Muscle, Stress
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