Imaging Live Cells Under Mechanical Stress

Cellular responses to mechanical stimuli are implicated in the structural and functional adaptation of many tissues. For example, cellular mechanisms mediate bone and skeletal muscle remodeling during mechanical loading, lung function during ventilator-induced injury, hearing loss in the inner ear, and blood flow-mediated cardiovascular pathophysiology. Since much of our own work investigates vascular biomechanics, we will focus in this chapter on the techniques used to study vascular endothelial cells in vitro; however, similar techniques can be used to study other cell types.