Endocardial endothelium in the rat: cell shape and organization of the cytoskeleton

The cytoskeleton in endocardial endothelium of rat heart was examined by en face confocal scanning laser microscopy. In the ventricular cavity, endocardial endothelial cells had a polygonal shape and F-actin staining was generally restricted to the peripheral junctional actin band. Central F-actin bundles, or stress fibers, in endocardial endothelial cells were found on the tendon end of papillary muscles, especially in the right ventricle, and frequently in the outflow tract of both ventricles; elsewhere, stress fibers were scarce. Many endocardial endothelial cells were elongated in areas of endothelium with stress fibers, but no correlation was found between cell elongation and the number of stress fibers. An inverse correlation was found between the number of stress fibers and the surface area of endocardial endothelial cells. Shear stress as well as mechanical deformation of the surface of the ventricular wall during the cardiac cycle may affect cell shape and the organization of actin filaments in endocardial endothelial cells. Vimentin in endocardial endothelial cells formed a filamentous network with some distinct cytoplasmic and juxtanuclear vimentin bundles. No perinuclear ring of vimentin filaments was observed in endocardial endothelium. Microtubules in endocardial endothelial cells were, in contrast to endothelial cells of rat aorta, not aligned, less closely packed and originated from randomly distributed centriolar regions. The cytoskeleton has been suggested to play an important role in cellular functions of vascular endothelial cells. Accordingly, differences in the cytoskeletal organization between endocardial and vascular endothelial cells may relate to differences in functional properties.