[Rheologic properties of the human umbilical vein endothelial cells exposed to shear stress].
The function of vascular endothelial cells has recently become a hot spot in biomedical research. This paper reports the deformation properties of cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells exposed to shear stress with the flow chamber. The umbilical vein endothelial cells were exposed to shear stress 0.6, 3.8 and 7.5 Pa for 12 h respectively. With microvideo recording and computerized morphologic analysis, the results demonstrated that the endothelial cells were elongated as a result of exposing to shear stress 3.8 or 7.5 Pa for 12 h. Their major axes were consistent with the flow direction. Furthermore the degree of elongation and orientation of endothelial cells depended on the shear stress and shear duration. The results were compared with those of three foreign laboratories; and the causes of agreement and difference were discussed. This study is the basic word for a series of future researches.
D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012212:Rheology; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014471:Umbilical Veins / Q000502:physiology*