Visualization of flow-dependent concentration polarization of macromolecules at the surface of a vascular endothelium by means of fluorescence microscopy

摘要

There is considerable evidence that atherosclerotic lesions develop preferentially at sites where wall shear stress is low. However, precise mechanisms by which plasma lipoproteins accumulate in regions of low shear has not been elucidated yet.We have previously suggested that flow-dependent concentration polarization of plasma proteins and lipoproteins may occur at a blood / endothelium boundary, and this could lead to the localization of atherosclerosis in regions of low shear (Karino andDeng, 1990; Karino et al., 1995; Naiki et al., 1998; Wada and Karino, in press). In the present study, we attempted to visualize the occurrence of the phenomenon by using cultured vascular endothelial cell monolayers, and flowing suspensions offluorescent micro-spheres under various conditions, and monitoring the intensity of fluorescence of the microspheres accumulated on and up-taken by the endothelial cell monolayer.