Co-stimulation effect of fluid shear stress-material surface chemistry on the behavior of human umbilical vein endothelial cells

Objective: The improvement of bone repair scaffolds to enhance their bioactivity and in vivo vascularization is a current research hotspot. Method: HUVECs are subjected to both fluid shear stress (FSS) and chemical stimuli simultaneously. The release of ATP, NO, and the expression of eNOS were examined. The adhesion spots and cytoskeleton formed by HUVEC on the material surface were also observed. Result: LFSS (low fluid shear stress, 5 dyn/cm2) did not trigger a response on Glass and -NH2 HUVECs, but induced a strong response on -OH and -CH3, while PFSS (physiological fluid shear stress, 15 dyn/cm2) and HFSS (high fluid shear stress, 20 dyn/cm2) generated responses of all groups of cells, among which the strongest response level was from the -NH2 group, followed by Glass, and among which equal response levels of the -OH and -CH3 groups existed at the lowest. Conclusion: The chemical functional groups changed the initial threshold of HUVECs response to FSS and the shear force stimulation threshold for optimal cellular response by influencing the quality of adhesion spots and cytoskeleton formed by HUVECs on the surface of the material, thereby altering the response state of endothelial cells to shear force stimulation.