Monolayers of endothelial cells (EC) cultured from mouse lymph nodes were exposed to controlled levels of shear stress (0-7.1 dyn/cm2) in a parallel plate flow chamber, and binding between the flow-loaded EC and mouse lymph node-derived lymphocytes was assayed. A large number of lymphocytes adhered to the stationary control EC, but in EC exposed to a shear stress of 1.5 dyn/cm2 for 6 h, the adhesion decreased to 68.8 +/- 12.8% (SD; n = 19) of control (n = 29, P < 0.001). The decrease in adhesion induced by flow loading was time and shear stress dependent and reversible. Treatment of stationary EC with a monoclonal antibody (MAb) to vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) reduced the adhesion to 70.6 +/- 11.5% (n = 19) of control (P < 0.001), whereas MAb to CD44 and to intercellular adhesion molecule-1 had no effect on it. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that the amount of VCAM-1 expressed on the cell surface was decreased to 48.5 +/- 15.8% (n = 6) of control by flow loading (P < 0.001). Flow loading experiments using two perfusates with different viscosities demonstrated that the decrease in VCAM-1 expression due to flow was shear stress rather than shear rate dependent. The detection of mRNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction showed that VCAM-1 mRNA levels were markedly depressed in EC exposed to flow loading.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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