Prevention of mechanical stretch-induced endothelial and smooth muscle cell death in experimental vein grafts

Vein grafts, a unique type of blood vessels, are subject to increased tensile stress due to exposure to arterial blood pressure, and have been used to study the mechanism of mechanical regulation of vascular remodeling. As shown in a previous study, the average tensile stress in an experimental vein graft could be two orders of magnitude higher than that in a vein upon reopening of blood flow. This stress has been shown to be associated with smooth muscle cell (SMC) death and SMC actin filament degradation within one day, followed by SMC proliferation after five days after surgery. However, it remains unclear whether tensile stress and strain were responsible for the early death of SMCs. This study was designed to clarify this issue.