Bioengineering contributions in vascular biology at the cellular and molecular level

Bioengineers and vascular biologists have enjoyed a successful symbiosis over the last two decades. In particular, bioengineers and life scientists have begun to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie normal physiological and pathophysiological vascular biology. One conclusion of importance is that fluid mechanics and mass transfer are closely integrated with and actively modulate blood and vascular cell function. Examples include flow regulation of receptor specificity in leukocyte/endothelial cell adhesion and wall shear stress and mechanical strain modulation of gene expression in endothelial and smooth muscle cells. The continued synthesis of cell and molecular biology with systems analysis, mass transport phenomena, and quantitative modeling will allow the development of patientspecific therapeutics with applications in inflammation, atherosclerosis, thrombosis, sickle cell disease, and cancer metastasis.