Variable fluid flow regimes alter human brain microvascular endothelial cell-cell junctions and cytoskeletal structure.

The human brain microvasculature is constantly exposed to variable fluid flow regimes and their influence on the endothelium depends in part on the synchronous cooperative behavior between cell-cell junctions and the cytoskeleton. In this study, we exposed human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells to a low laminar flow (1 dyne⋅cm ), high laminar flow (10 dyne⋅cm ), low oscillatory flow (±1 dyne⋅cm ), or high oscillatory flow (±10 dyne⋅cm ) for 24 hr. After this time, endothelial cell-cell junction and cytoskeletal structural response was characterized through observation of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), claudin-5, junctional adhesion molecule-A (JAM-A), vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-Cad), and F-actin.