Hydrostatic mechanical stress regulates growth and maturation of the atrioventricular valve.

ABSTRACT: During valvulogenesis, cytoskeletal, secretory and transcriptional events drive endocardial cushion growth and remodeling into thin fibrous leaflets. Genetic disorders play an important role in understanding valve malformations but only account for a minority of clinical cases. Mechanical forces are ever present, but how they coordinate molecular and cellular decisions remains unclear. In this study, we used osmotic pressure to interrogate how compressive and tensile stresses influence valve growth and shape maturation. We found that compressive stress drives a growth phenotype, whereas tensile stress increases compaction. We identified a mechanically activated switch between valve growth and maturation, by which compression induces cushion growth via BMP-pSMAD1/5, while tension induces ma

SUBMITTER: Bassen D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8276982 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature