Abstract

Significance: Arterial blood vessels functionally and structurally adapt to altering hemodynamic forces in order to accommodate changing needs and to provide stress homeostasis. This ability is achieved at the cellular level by converting mechanical stimulation into biochemical signals (i.e., mechanotransduction). Whereas physiological mechanical stress helps to maintain vascular structure and function, pathologic or aberrant stress may impair cellular mechano-signaling, and initiate or augment cellular processes which drive disease. Recent advances: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) may represent an intriguing class of mechanically- regulated second messengers. Chronically enhanced ROS-generation may be induced by adverse mechanical stresses, and is associated with a multitude of vascular diseases. Although a causal relationship has clearly been demonstrated in large numbers of animal studies, an effective ROS-modulating therapy still remains to be established by clinical studies. Critical issues and Future directions: This review article focuses on the role of various mechanical forces (in the form of laminar shear stress, oscillatory shear stress or cyclic stretch) as modulators of ROS- driven signaling, and their subsequent effects on vascular biology and homeostasis, as well as on specific diseases such as arteriosclerosis, hypertension and abdominal aortic aneurysms. Specifically, it highlights the significance of the various NADPH oxidase (NOX) isoforms as critical ROS generators in the vasculature. Directed targeting of defined components in the complex network of ROS (mechano)signaling may represent a key for successful translation of experimental findings into clinical practice.

View details for DOI 10.1089/ars.2013.5507

View details for PubMedID 23879326