FIGURE 3.

VE-cadherin staining in endothelial cells exposed to disturbed and laminar flows in vitro. Confluent monolayers of BAECs were kept as controls or subjected to disturbed and laminar flows in a step flow chamber. Staining of VE-cadherin was observed by confocal microscopy. VE-cadherin staining was continuously distributed around the entire periphery of cells under static condition (a). After a 24-h exposure to the disturbed flow, the VE-cadherin distribution became discontinuous (b), whereas 24-h exposure to laminar flow resulted in a continuous distribution of VE-cadherin (c), as in the static condition. Images shown here are representative results from 3 separate experiments. Bar in a = 30 µm. From Miao et al. ²⁷