Surface Topography and Cytoskeletal Structure As Determinants of the Sensitivity of Endothelial Cells to Mechanical Forces

The distribution of shear stress on the surface of endothelial cells exposed to flow is determined by the cell topography. By a combination of atomic force microscope (AFM) measurements of surface topography in living cells and computation fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of flow over the measured geometries, it has been demonstrated previously that the alignment response of endothelial cells to steady shear stress dramatically alters the subcellular distribution of shear stress acting on the cell (Barbee et al., 1995). These studies suggest that the cells are sensitive to the subcellular variations in shear stress and that their sensitivity to flow may be determined in part by the topography of the monolayer.