Pressure-dependent regulation of Ca2+ signalling in the vascular endothelium

The endothelium is an interconnected network upon which haemodynamic mechanical forces act to control vascular tone and remodelling in disease. Ca2+ signalling is central to the endothelium's mechanotransduction and networked activity. However, challenges in imaging Ca2+ in large numbers of endothelial cells under conditions that preserve the intact physical configuration of pressurized arteries have limited progress in understanding how pressure-dependent mechanical forces alter networked Ca2+ signalling. We developed a miniature wide-field, gradient-index (GRIN) optical probe designed to fit inside an intact pressurized artery that permitted Ca2+ signals to be imaged with subcellular resolution in a large number (similar to 200) of naturally connected endothelial cells at various pressures. Chemical (acetylcholine) activation triggered spatiotemporally complex, propagating inositol trisphosphate (IP3)-mediated Ca2+ waves that originated in clusters of cells and progressed from there across the endothelium. Mechanical stimulation of the artery, by increased intraluminal pressure, flattened the endothelial cells and suppressed IP3-mediated Ca2+ signals in all activated cells. By computationally modelling Ca2+ release, endothelial shape changes were shown to alter the geometry of the Ca2+ diffusive environment near IP3 receptor microdomains to limit IP3-mediated Ca2+ signals as pressure increased. Changes in cell shape produce a geometric microdomain regulation of IP3-mediated Ca2+ signalling to explain macroscopic pressure-dependent, endothelial mechano-sensing without the need for a conventional mechanoreceptor. The suppression of IP3-mediated Ca2+ signalling may explain the decrease in endothelial activity as pressure increases. GRIN imaging provides a convenient method that gives access to hundreds of endothelial cells in intact arteries in physiological configuration.