Hypothesis: the morphology of the endothelial cell facilitates the disintegration of blood cell aggregates.
This is an attempt to find a rationale for the shape of the endothelial cell. While this type of cell is characterized by flatness, its nucleus protrudes prominently into the lumen. Functionally, flatness of the cell is conductive to smooth flowing of the blood; the position of the nucleus therefore seems problematic, as it can only disturb the blood flow. My hypothesis centers on the fact that white cells appear in the blood as aggregates, which obviously implies the need of their disaggregation, to avoid plugging of the small blood vessels.
Aronson
M
M
Department of Histology and Cell Biology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel.
D000818:Animals; D001775:Blood Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000502:physiology*