Qian Xiao¹, Xia Tang¹, Yuanxiu Chen¹, Han Bao¹, Lizhi Gao^1,2, Xiaobo Gong^3,*, Ping Zhang^1,4,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, No.3, pp. 199-210, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07107

Abstract Adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), a 39-amino acid peptide hormone, has been reported in the appreciation of the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), however, the mechanism in molecular scale supporting the appreciation remains to be elucidated. In this study, we observed that the protein expression levels of ACTH at 24 h after exposure to 15% cyclic stretch were significantly higher than that after 5% cyclic stretch. When VSMCs were treated with 1000 nM ACTH directly, Oct-1 and lamin B1 expression were both up-regulated associating with each other, and the presence of Oct-1 was found shuttling between the cytosol and nucleus.… More >

Petit Claudie¹, Guignandon Alain², Avril Stéphane^1,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, No.2, pp. 87-108, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.06415

Abstract The contractile behavior of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in the aorta is an important determinant of growth, remodeling, and homeostasis. However, quantitative values of SMC basal tone have never been characterized precisely on individual SMCs. Therefore, to address this lack, we developed an in vitro technique based on Traction Force Microscopy (TFM). Aortic SMCs from a human lineage at low passages (4-7) were cultured 2 days in conditions promoting the development of their contractile apparatus and seeded on hydrogels of varying elastic modulus (1, 4, 12 and 25 kPa) with embedded fluorescent microspheres. After complete adhesion, SMCs were artificially detached… More >

W.W. Liou¹, Y.C. Fang¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.1, No.4, pp. 119-128, 2000, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2000.001.571

Abstract A simple implicit treatment for the low speed inflow and outflow boundary conditions for the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) of the flows in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is proposed. The local mean flow velocity, temperature, and number density near the subsonic boundaries were used to determine the number of molecules entering the computational domain and their corresponding velocities at every sample average step. The proposed boundary conditions were validated against micro-Poiseuille flows and micro-Couette flows. The results were compared with analytical solutions derived from the Navier-Stokes equations using first-order and second order slip-boundary conditions. The results show that the implicit… More >