Work

Controversy in mechanotransduction – the role of endothelial cell–cell junctions in fluid shear stress sensing

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Fluid shear stress (FSS) from blood flow, sensed by the vascular endothelial cells (ECs) that line all blood vessels, regulates vascular development during embryogenesis, controls adult vascular physiology and determines the location of atherosclerotic plaque formation. Although a number of papers have reported a crucial role for cell-cell adhesions or adhesion receptors in these processes, a recent publication has challenged this paradigm, presenting evidence that ECs can very rapidly align in fluid flow as single cells without cell-cell contacts. To address this controversy, four independent laboratories assessed EC alignment in fluid flow across a range of EC cell types. These studies demonstrate a strict requirement for cell-cell contact in shear stress sensing over timescales consistent with previous literature and inconsistent with the newly published data.

Source: Journal of Cell Science

DOI: 10.1242/jcs.262348

Authors: Shaka X, Claire Aitken, Vedanta Mehta, Blanca Tardajos-Ayllon, Jovana Serbanovic-Canic, Jiayu Zhu, Bernadette Miao, Ellie Tzima, Paul Evans, Yun Fang, Martin A. Schwartz

Institutions: Yale University, University of Oxford, Queen Mary University of London, William Harvey Research Institute, University of Sheffield, University of Chicago

Language: English

Topic: Cellular Mechanics and Interactions

Subfield: Cell Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: American Heart Association, Yale University, British Heart Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service, Medical Research Council, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Awards: G1270562995, G1874149225, Fluid shear stress mechanotransduction at endothelial cell-cell junctions, G3135842867, G3143010909, Role of Plexin D1 in flow-induced atherosclerosis progression. 36 +, Mechanotransduction in vascular physiology and pathology, G5534296110, ENDOTHELIAL GATA4 IN ATHEROSCLEROSIS PROGRESSION, G6878508085, G7542389844, Role of the transcription factor twist1 in endothelial pathophysiology and atherosclerosis progression (renewal), G8929597431

OpenAlex ID: W4401619383

FWCI: 1.32

Cites: 23

Cited by: 7

Related to: 10