Study reveals how blood vessels use 'shortcuts' to control cardiovascular system

A new study led by the Centre for Vascular Imaging at the University of Strathclyde shows that these cells use a complex system to communicate with each other

The endothelium is the thin lining of cells within blood vessels that regulates blood flow, blood pressure, blood clotting, inflammation and the response to disease

Research from the University of Strathclyde has found that endothelial cells have clusters of cells that have specific functions and operate in clusters

The findings suggest that the endothelial communication network is designed to be similar to the communication operation of the Internet, which can effectively control local blood vessels and improve overall efficiency in determining overall cardiovascular activity

The findings also suggest that the disease may be based on changes in communicating tissues, rather than the behavior and function of individual cells

The researchers addressed the nature of communication networks by using single-cell calcium imaging on thousands of intact vascular endothelial cells and applying mathematical network (graph) theory

Professor John McCarran, from the Strathclyde Institute for Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Research, said: "Endothelial cells are a major target in the control of cardiovascular disease and are often seen as a unified cell population

"Having a well-organized, fast and robust communication system that shares information for a coordinated response