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Updated: May 11, 2026
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In Vitro Microfluidic Disease Model to Study Whole Blood-Endothelial Interactions and Blood Clot Dynamics in Real-Time
Published on: May 24, 2020
Glassy dynamics, cell mechanics, and endothelial permeability.
Corey Hardin1, Kavitha Rajendran, Greeshma Manomohan
1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston, Massachusetts.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B
|May 4, 2013
Summary
Inflammation disrupts the endothelial barrier via cell cytoskeleton contraction. This study reveals how agonists and antagonists modulate the force propagation length scale, impacting barrier permeability.
Area of Science:
- Cell biology
- Biophysics
- Vascular biology
Background:
- Inflammatory processes involve disruption of the vascular endothelial barrier.
- Endothelial cell (EC) cytoskeleton contraction initiates barrier disruption.
- Contractile forces propagate nonlocally across cell-cell junctions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the modulation of intercellular force propagation during endothelial barrier disruption.
- To determine how agonists and antagonists affect the characteristic length scale of force propagation.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of endothelial cell (EC) cytoskeleton dynamics.
- Measurement of intercellular force propagation length scales.
- Assessment of the impact of agonists (thrombin, histamine, H2O2) and antagonists (sphingosine-1-phosphate, hepatocyte growth factor, Y27632) on barrier permeability and force propagation.
Main Results:
- Agonists increase the force correlation length, enhancing barrier disruption.
- Antagonists decrease the force correlation length, potentially restoring barrier integrity.
- Observation of intercellular force chains and clusters, characteristic of soft glassy materials near a glass transition.
Conclusions:
- The characteristic length scale of force propagation is a key regulator of endothelial barrier function.
- Modulating intercellular forces offers a potential therapeutic strategy for inflammatory diseases.
- Endothelial barrier dynamics exhibit properties of soft glassy materials.
