John Tarbell, Ph.D.
CUNY and Wallace Coulter Distinguished Professor
Biomedical Engineering
The City College of New York

“Fluid Mechanics– Vascular Disease and Mechanotransduction”

The seminar will begin with a review of the range of fluid mechanical phenomena that are present in the cardiovascular system. Attention will then turn to those regions of the circulation where vascular disease, in particular atherosclerosis, is localized, and the fluid mechanical factors that are thought to play a role in the localization of disease. Studies that demonstrate remodeling of vascular lining cells (endothelial cells) and their biochemical and genetic responses to flow will be described, and the possible mechanotransduction mechanisms that are responsible for sensing forces and transducing them into intracellular signals will be discussed. The endothelial surface layer of proteoglycans (the glycocalyx) will be singled out for in depth discussion as a mechanosensor and –transducer.

When: Thursday, November 21, 2013 4:10 PM

Where: 1005 GBSF