せん断応力が血管内皮細胞へ及ぼす影響

抄録

Vascular endothelial cells are constantly exposed to mechanical stimuli, including fluid shear stress, caused by blood flow. It has been widely known that fluid shear stress can modulate cell alignment, proliferation, differentiation, migration, and cytokine secretion. These morphological and functional responses of cells to the stimuli play important roles not only in the maintenance of physiological functions of the blood vessel but also in the development and progression of diseases. This review summarizes cellular responses induced by fluid shear stress on vascular endothelial cells, which have been extensively investigated in vitro over the last three decades. In addition, the possible mechanisms by which endothelial cells sense shear stress are also introduced briefly.