The study of rheological effects on vascular endothelial cells in culture

A number of cell culture studies have been reported on the influence of shear stress on vascular endothelial cells. Although through such studies much has been learned about the effect of an endothelial cell's hydrodynamic environment on its structure and function, the reports indicate significant differences in methodology. Using cell shape as an indicator of differences that might result from differing methodologies, an investigation of the influence of selected variables has been carried out. The results presented indicate that not only are such variables as the level of shear stress and the duration of exposure important, but also substrate, media composition, characteristics of the cell itself, and the nature of the flow, e.g. whether it is steady state or pulsatile.