Mechanical force is an important modulator of cellular morphology and function in a variety
of tissues, and is particularly important in cardiovascular systems. Vascular smooth muscle …

• Introduction• The vascular endothelial growth factor/platelet‐derived growth factor super‐
family of ligands and receptors‐Vascular endothelial growth factor ligands‐Platelet‐derived …

Extracellular matrix (ECM) provides several structural and functional characteristics to
tissues including cell support, mechanical integrity and biological signaling. In …

Heart disease is a major cause of death in the Western world. In the past three decades
there has been a number of improvements in artificial devices and surgical techniques for …

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is a family of dimeric isoforms that stimulates, eg,
growth, chemotaxis and cell shape changes of various connective tissue cell types and …

Stenosis is a major cause of failure of hemodialysis vascular grafts and is primarily caused
by neointimal hyperplasia (NH) at the anastomoses. The objective of this article is to provide …

Neointimal hyperplasia (NIH) in bypass conduits such as veins and prosthetic grafts is an
important clinical entity that limits the long-term success of vascular interventions. Although …

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are exposed to fluid-mechanical forces, such as cyclic strain and
shear stress, during the process of embryonic development but much remains to be …

Hemodynamic forces, including shear stress and cyclic strain, have been recognized as
important modulators of vascular cell morphology and function. The mechanism by which …

Mechanical signals regulate blood vessel development in vivo, and have been
demonstrated to regulate signal transduction of endothelial cell (EC) and smooth muscle cell …