The Adaptive Response of Endothelial Cells to Increased Shear Stress

In this study, we characterized the adaptive response of arterial endothelial cells to acute increases in shear stress magnitude in well-defined in vitro settings. Porcine endothelial cells were preconditioned by a basal level shear stress of 15 ± 15 dynes/cm2 at 1 Hz for 24 hours, and an acute increase in shear stress magnitude (30 ± 15 dynes/cm2) was then applied. The transcriptomics studies using microarray identified genes that were sensitive to the elevated shear magnitude. A significant number of the identified genes in our study are previously unknown as sensitive to shear stress. Porcine endothelial cells were preconditioned by a basal level shear stress of 15 ± 15 dynes/cm2 at 1 Hz for 24 hours, and an acute increase in shear stress magnitude (30 ± 15 dynes/cm2) was then applied. Gene expression at multiple time points was measured using microarray.