The Assembly and Application of 'Shear Rings': A Novel Endothelial Model for Orbital, Unidirectional and Periodic Fluid Flow and Shear Stress

Deviations from normal levels and patterns of vascular fluid shear play important roles in vascular physiology and pathophysiology by inducing adaptive as well as pathological changes in endothelial phenotype and gene expression. In particular, maladaptive effects of periodic, unidirectional flow induced shear stress can trigger a variety of effects on several vascular cell types, particularly endothelial cells. While by now endothelial cells from diverse anatomic origins have been cultured, in-depth analyses of their responses to fluid shear have been hampered by the relative complexity of shear models (e.g., parallel plate flow chamber, cone and plate flow model). While these all represent excellent approaches, such models are technically complicated and suffer from drawbacks including relatively lengthy and complex setup time, low surface areas, requirements for pumps and pressurization often requiring sealants and gaskets, creating challenges to both maintenance of sterility and an inability to run multiple experiments. However, if higher throughput models of flow and shear were available, greater progress on vascular endothelial shear responses, particularly periodic shear research at the molecular level, might be more rapidly advanced. Here, we describe the construction and use of shear rings: a novel, simple-to-assemble, and inexpensive tissue culture model with a relatively large surface area that easily allows for a high number of experimental replicates in unidirectional, periodic shear stress studies on endothelial cells.