Mechanotransduction and arterial smooth muscle cells: new insight into hypertension and atherosclerosis

Vascular cells depend on multiple stimuli to maintain a biomechanically and biologically stable environment. Mechanical stresses contribute significantly to multiple cellular processes that regulate vascular structure and function. For example, fluid shear stresses control endothelial cell molecular responses. Less attention has focused on responses of the smooth muscle cell, the 'other' major vascular cell, to mechanical stimuli, in part because of the experimental difficulties in applying precisely controlled deformation. With the advent of new bioengineered devices, combined with modern technologies for studying molecular expression, we are beginning to understand how the smooth muscle cell responds to and controls the biomechanical environment. These studies will help us to understand vascular diseases where vascular mechanics plays a prominent role, such as hypertension, aneurysm formation and atherosclerotic plaque rupture.