FIGURE 7.

Mechanical properties of single VSMC measured by atomic force microscopy. (A) Distribution of force as a function of indentation in young (pink) (n = 40 cells) and old (blue) (n = 76 cells) monkeys. Increased cell stiffness is evident as higher force requirement for indentation. (B) VSMC stiffness increased fourfold more in old vs. young monkeys. *P < 0.05 vs. young monkeys. (C) Smooth muscle stiffness syndrome is characteristic of increased arterial stiffness and describes the aberrant increased stiffness and adhesion to fibronectin observed in vascular smooth muscle cells derived from stiff vessels (reprint from Sehgel et al., 2015b).