Endothelial surface reorganization: Effects of a porous surface layer

Endothelial cells that constitute the wall of the blood vessels are known to change their shape responding to hydrodynamic shear. The plasma membrane of the endothelial cell is covered with a high-porosity porous macromolecular surface layer endothelial surface layer (ESL). The wavy membrane surface is analyzed to examine effects of the presence of the ESL on the rate of entropy generation (viscous dissipation) due to the viscous flow over the cell, based on the Darcy-Brinkman equation for porous media. The hydrodynamic interactions at the interface between the ESL and the viscous flow as a region of signal generation is found to be sensitive to the porous structure of ESL in terms of the rate of energy dissipation at the cell peak although the total rate of energy dissipation over the entire cell surface remains approximately the same as the case neglecting the hydrodynamic effects of ESL. Copyright © 2006 Begell House, Inc.