Smooth muscle cells were dissociated from normal rabbit aorta by incubating the tissue in Hanks' solution containing elastase, collagenase, and hyaluronidase. The isolated cells contained significant amounts of the following acid hydrolases: N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, N-acetyl-beta-galactosaminidase, beta-galactosidase, beta-glucuronidase, alpha-mannosidase, beta-glucosidase, acid phosphata...

In-stent restenosis occurs in coronary arteries after implantation of drug-eluting stents with non-uniform restenosis thickness distribution in the artery cross section. Knowledge of the spatio-temporal drug uptake in the arterial wall is useful for investigating restenosis growth but may often be very expensive/difficult to acquire experimentally. In this study, local delivery of a hydrophobic...

BACKGROUND Extracellular deposition of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the arterial wall is an essential early step in atherosclerosis. This process preferentially occurs at arterial branch points, reflecting a regional variation in lipoprotein-arterial wall interactions. In this study, we characterized the submicron microstructure of arterial wall collagen and elastin to evaluate its potentia...

We previously developed a new method, namely, the phased tracking method, for accurately tracking the movement of the heart wall and arterial wall based on both the phase and magnitude of the demodulated signals to determine the instantaneous position of an object. By this method, the local change in wall thickness during one heartbeat can be determined. We have now developed a real-time system...

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) consumption is associated with reduced cardiovascular disease risk. Increasing evidence demonstrating a beneficial effect of n-3 PUFA on arterial wall properties is progressively emerging. We reviewed the recent available evidence for the cardiovascular effects of n-3 PUFA focusing on structural and functional properties of the vascular wall. In ex...

In the present study, we investigate the effect of wall flexibility on the plug propagation and the resulting wall stresses in small airway models with experimental measurements and numerical simulations. Experimentally, a flexible microchannel was fabricated to mimic the flexible small airways using soft lithography. Liquid plugs were generated and propagated through the microchannels. The loc...