Endothelial Cells: The Living Sensors and Actuators

Cells function as an integral part of living tissues, constantly sensing and responding to biochemical and biomechanical stimuli. Endothelial cells (EC), in particular, are able to discriminate both the temporal and spatial components of shear stress, rending cell signaling, gene expression, and followed by protein formation. We embraced the MEMS technology to characterize real-time shear stress on EC. We provided the first in vitro evidence whereby a distinct pattern of cell-cell binding kinetics developed in parallel with dynamic gene expression in response to oscillatory shear stress.