Tensile Properties of Vascular Endothelial Cells

Abstract

Tensile properties of vascular endothelial cells (ECs) obtained from the rat common carotid artery and external jugular vein were determined. Each cell floated in Hanks' balanced salt solution of 37℃ was gripped with a pair of micropipettes and, then, stretched at the rate of 6μm/sec by moving one of the micropipettes with a linear actuator. The cells harvested from both artery and vein were broken at the load of approximately 0.2μN; their elongation to failure were 18 and 14μm, respectively. These maximum load and elongation to failure were much smaller than those of fibroblasts [Ref. 3] and vascular smooth muscle cells [Ref. 4]. These results suggest that the cytoskeletal structures of ECs in the artery and vein are similar to each other and stress fibers in both cells are thinner than those in fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells.