Kingsley, G. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2025

Shear-Induced Macrophage Secretome Promotes Endothelial Permeability

BackgroundDiscrete subaortic stenosis (DSS) is a pediatric cardiovascular disease marked by fibrotic growth within the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT), leading to severe complications, including left ventricular hypertrophy, aortic regurgitation, and arrhythmias. Despite surgical intervention, a 20-30% recurrence rate suggests a complex underlying pathophysiology. Elevated flow and resultant hemodynamic shear stress within the LVOT are key factors in DSS development. While effects of shear stress on endothelial cells have been studied, the impact on macrophages and their interactions with endothelial cells remains unclear. MethodsIn this study, human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) and human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) were subjected to shear using a cone-and-plate viscometer. Cellular crosstalk was evaluated through conditioned media (CM) transfers. Gene expression, permeability and chemotaxis assays, immunofluorescent staining, and ELISAs assessed cellular responses. ResultsMDMs exposed to shear stress exhibited a pro-inflammatory response with upregulated TNF and CXCL8 genes. HAECs exposed to MDM-CM showed increased expression of inflammatory markers (VCAM-1, ICAM-1) and decreased VE-Cadherin and CD31, indicating increased permeability. Permeability assays confirmed that HAECs became more permeable when exposed to MDM-CM. Chemotaxis assays showed time-dependent monocyte migration in both MDM-CM and HAEC-CM. Immunofluorescent staining revealed diminished VE-Cadherin and CD31 in HAECs exposed to MDM-CM. ConclusionsOverall, pathological shear stress induced macrophages to secrete factors that increased endothelial permeability and perpetuated an inflammatory response. This interaction likely exacerbates fibrosis in DSS, promoting recurrence post-surgery. Understanding these mechanisms opens potential therapeutic avenues targeting inflammatory crosstalk between macrophages and endothelial cells, which could mitigate fibrosis and improve patient outcomes.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2022

Shear Stress Induces a Pro-Inflammatory Phenotype in Human Monocyte-Derived Macrophages

Macrophages are innate immune cells that are known for their extreme plasticity, enabling diverse phenotypes that lie on a continuum. In a simplified model, they switch between pro-inflammatory (M1) and anti-inflammatory (M2) phenotypes depending on surrounding microenvironmental cues, which have been implicated in disease outcomes. Although considerable research has been focused on macrophage response to biochemical cues and mechanical signals, there is a scarcity of knowledge surrounding their behavior in response to shear stress. In this study, we applied varying magnitudes of shear stress on human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) using a cone-and-plate viscometer and evaluated changes in morphology, gene expression, protein expression, and cytokine secretion over time. MDMs exposed to shear stress exhibited a rounder morphology compared to statically-cultured controls. RT-qPCR results showed significant upregulation of TNF-, and analysis of cytokine release revealed increased secretion of IL-8, IL-18, fractalkine, and other chemokines. The upregulation of pro-inflammatory factors was evident with both increasing magnitudes of shear and time. Taken together, these results indicate that prolonged shear exposure induced a pro-inflammatory phenotype in human MDMs. These findings have implications for medical technology development, such as in situ vascular graft design wherein macrophages are exposed to shear and have been shown to affect graft resorption, and in delineating disease pathophysiology, for example to further illuminate the role of macrophages in atherosclerosis where shear is directly related to disease outcome.

bioengineering↗