Switching behaviour in vascular smooth muscle cell-matrix adhesion during oscillatory loading.

ABSTRACT: Integrins regulate mechanotransduction between smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and the extracellular matrix (ECM). SMCs resident in the walls of airways or blood vessels are continuously exposed to dynamic mechanical forces due to breathing or pulsatile blood flow. However, the resulting effects of these forces on integrin dynamics and associated cell-matrix adhesion are not well understood. Here we present experimental results from atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments, designed to study the integrin response to external oscillatory loading of varying amplitudes applied to live aortic SMCs, together with theoretical results from a mathematical model. In the AFM experiments, a fibronectin-coated probe was used cyclically to indent and retract from the surface of the cell. We observed a tran

SUBMITTER: Irons L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7384930 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature