Endothelial Cell Migration in Patient-Specific Models of Intracranial Aneurysm

摘要

Effects of wall shear stress on atherosclerotic disease are widely studied, but its effects on intracranial aneurysms are less clear. In vitro studies have demonstrated that endothelial cells (EC) go through morphological changes under abnormal wall shear stress, and these studies have also shown that abnormal wall shear stresses lead to a non-uniform EC distributions [1, 2]. Since endothelial cells play a critical role in mechanotransduction, a sub-optimal distribution of EC may affect remodeling of vessel wall.rnMost studies on EC are conducted in idealized geometries with uniform wall shear or change of wall shear only in one dimension; thus, less is known about the effects of complicated flow and realistic geometry [3]. We develop a numerical model of EC migration based on existing in vitro data, and the goal is to understand if an abnormal EC distribution leads to the weakening of a vessel.