Inflammation induced by circulating immunoglobulin G-immune complexes (ICs) characterizes many immune-mediated diseases. In this work, the molecular requirements for the deposition of circulating ICs and subsequent acute leukocyte recruitment in mice were elucidated. We show that after intravenous injection, preformed soluble ICs are rapidly deposited in the postcapillary venules of the cremast...

Vascular delivery of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) following myocardial infarction is under clinical investigation. Little is known about the microvascular fate of MSCs. We used intravital microscopy of rat cremaster muscle microcirculation to track intraarterially delivered MSCs. Rat MSCs (average diameter, 23 microm) were bolused into the ipsilateral common iliac artery. Interrogation of an a...

Drag-reducing polymers (DRPs) significantly increase blood flow, tissue perfusion, and tissue oxygenation in various animal models. In rectangular channel microfluidic systems, DRPs were found to significantly reduce the near-wall cell-free layer (CFL) as well as modify traffic of red blood cells (RBC) into microchannel branches. In the current study we further investigated the mechanism by whi...

Recently, the mammalian actin-binding protein 1 (mAbp1; Hip-55, SH3P7, debrin-like protein) was identified as a novel component of the β(2) integrin-mediated signaling cascade during complement-mediated phagocytosis and firm adhesion of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) under physiological shear stress conditions. In this study, we found that the genetic ablation of mAbp1 severely compromised...

Previous work has shown that endogenous chemical mediators, of which histamine is the prototype, increase the permeability of blood vessels by causing gaps to appear between endothelial cells . In the present paper, morphologic and statistical evidence is presented, to suggest that endothelial cells contract under the influence of mediators, and that this contraction causes the formation of int...

OBJECTIVE Dietary supplementation with polyunsaturated fatty acids has been widely used for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in individuals at risk; however, the cardioprotective benefits of polyunsaturated fatty acids remain controversial because of lack of mechanistic and in vivo evidence. We present direct evidence that an omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid, dihomo-...

The reversibility of functional and structural microvascular alterations in chronic renal hypertension has not been established. Twelve weeks after surgery to induce hypertension, in vivo arteriolar and venular dimensions were measured in the cremaster muscle of rats with one-kidney, one-clip hypertension (1K1C), rats in which the clip was removed after 8 weeks (1KNT), and controls. Systolic bl...

A thick endothelial glycocalyx contributes to the barrier function of vascular endothelium in macro- and microcirculation. We hypothesised in the current study that diet-induced hyperlipidaemia perturbs the glycocalyx, resulting in decreased dimensions of this layer and increased transendothelial lipoprotein leakage in capillaries. Glycocalyx thickness was measured in mouse cremaster muscle cap...

This study tests the hypothesis that capillary perfusion is controlled in groups rather than at the level of the individual capillary. We measured cell flux (using cells labeled with substituted tetramethyl rhodamine isothiocyanate, XRITC) and vessel diameter in adjoining arterioles of the terminal vasculature of hamster cremaster muscle (Nembutal, 70 mg/kg i.p.) during rest and hyperemia (10(-...