Fig. 3.

Junctional adaptation of EC in response to fluid shear stress with various flow media. Cells were exposed to USS of 10.5 dyne/cm² and HSSG of 0 ≈ 2,500 dyne/cm² per cm for 5 h. Effects of USS and HSSG on the distribution of ZO-1 (A) and Cx43 (B) were analyzed by using confocal microscopy. Overall average protein density profiles from stacked images of different treatments were plotted by using scion image. Disruption and distribution of ZO-1 and Cx43 were detected by using kurtosis analysis. Four images per experiment, for a total of four experiments, were taken from USS and HSSG regions. All data are presented as mean ± SEM, n = 160 (*, P < 0.05). Flow direction, arrow; perinuclear Cx43, thin arrows; disruption of ZO-1 (A) and Cx43 (B) at cell–cell borders, arrowheads. HepIII, heparinase III. (Bar, 20 μm.)