Effect of Frequency of Uniform and Disturbed Pulsatility Flow on Tissue Factor Expression of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

Takeshi Moriguchi, Brittany

Abstract

We analyzed the effect of change in frequency of uniform or disturbed pulsatile flow on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in the presence or absence of thrombin (Th). We found that tissue factor (TF) RNA expression in HUVECs exposed to 60 cycles per minute (cpm) of disturbed and uniform flow was significantly higher than that induced by 30 cpm. HUVECs exposed to disturbed flow have significantly higher TF RNA expression than HUVECs exposed to uniform flow at either frequency. We conclude that frequency of pulsatile flow is a critical independent factor in TF RNA expression in HUVECs.