FLOW-MEDIATED ENDOTHELIAL MECHANOTRANSDUCTION

Mechanical forces associated with blood flow play important roles in t he acute control of vascular tone, the regulation of arterial structur e and remodeling, and the localization of atherosclerotic lesions. Maj or regulation of the blood vessel responses occurs by the action of he modynamic shear stresses on the endothelium. The transmission of hemod ynamic forces throughout the endothelium and the mechanotransduction m echanisms that lead to biophysical, biochemical, and gene regulatory r esponses of endothelial cells to hemodynamic shear stresses are review ed.