[Mechanical stresses and organ functions].
Organ functions are regulated not only by chemical mediators, such as hormones, cytokines, and neurotransmitters, but by mechanical stresses generated inside and outside the human body. The mechanical stress-mediated regulation is based on the ability of cells to recognize mechanical stresses and to transmit the signals into the cell interior, where they trigger cell responses that involve changes in cell morphology, cell function, and gene expression. Although the cell responses play an important role in maintaining the homeostasis of organ functions, abnormalities in these responses can cause diseases. For example, vascular endothelial cells transduce shear stress generated by flowing blood into a Ca2+ influx through an ATP-operated cation channel P2X4. In P2X4-deficient mice we observed impaired blood flow-dependent vasodilation and vascular structural remodeling, and higher blood pressure than that of wild-type mice.
Ando
Joji
J
University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine, System physiology.
Yamamoto
Kimiko
K