Figure 4. Effect of cyclic mechanical stretch on distribution of F-actin cytoskeleton in rat aortic smooth muscle cells (SMCs).
About 8 × 105 of SMCs were seeded onto fibronectin-coated (at 10 μg/ml) silicone elastomer chambers and received uniaxial and cyclic 10% stretches at constant frequency (1 Hz). The cells of static control (upper panel) and those receiving 360 min of mechanical stretches (lower panel) were subjected to FITC–phalloidin staining for intracellular distribution of F-actin in SMCs. DAPI was used to simultaneously visualize cell nuclei; scale bars = 20 μm.