It is now recognized that the mechanical environment of a cell has an influence on its
structure and function. For the vascular endothelial cell that resides at the interface of the
flowing blood and the underlying vessel wall, there is mounting evidence of the importance
of flow and the associated wall shear stress in the regulation of endothelial biology. Not only
is it a sensitive regulator of endothelial structure and function, but different flow environments
will influence endothelial cell biology differently. Furthermore, there may be an interaction …