• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• 제14권8호
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• pp.861-866
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• 2000

Flow induced shape change is important for spatial interpretation of vascular response and for understanding of mechanotransduction in a single cell. We investigated the possible shapes of endothelial cell (EC) in a mathematical model and compared these with experimental results. The linearized analytic solution from the sinusoidal wavy wall and Stokes flow was applied with the constraint of EC volume. The three dimensional structure of the human umbilical vein endothelial cell was visualized in static culture or after various durations of shear stress (20 $dyne/cm^2$ for 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 120min). The shape ratio (width: length: height) of model agreed with that of the experimental result, which represented the drag force minimizing shape of stream-lining. EC would be streamlined in order to accommodate to the shear flow environmented by active reconstruction of cytoskeletons and membranes through a drag force the sensing mechanism.