Figure 1.

This study enables us to investigate the effect of mechanical stimuli on VICs at different length scales that encompass organ-level simulations, tissue-level deformations, cell-level deformation and extracellular matrix biosynthesis, and sub-cellular behaviour and gene expression. Included in the diagram are the following: (1) three-dimensional rendition of the MVIC micro-environment from serial focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy micrographs. (2) Transmission electron micrograph of a representative myofibroblast, characterized by the highly convoluted rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER). White arrows: rER, blue arrows: collagen fibrils, red arrows: amorphous elastin. EC, euchromatin; HC, heterochromatin; Mi, mitochondria. Scale bar, 1 µm. (Online version in colour.)