Résumé
The elastic stress and viscous shear stress experienced by the vessel wall under pulse blood pressure and blood flow and the mechanical properties of the substrate constitute the in vivo mechanical niches of vascular cells, and these mechanical stimuli are involved in regulating the biological responses of vascular cells and inducing the remodeling and pathological changes of vascular tissues. Although many experimental studies on vascular mechanobiology have been reported, the quantitative correlation between the mechanical stimuli of in vitro experiments and the physiological and pathological conditions of blood vessels remains to be elucidated. This paper summarized the quantitative evaluation method of in vivo mechanical niches of vascular cells from the viewpoint of biomechanics, and then focused on effects of the physiological locations and aging on mechanical behaviors of the vessel wall. This paper also explored the physiological and pathological characteristics of the cellular mechanical niches and their implications for current vascular mechanobiological studies.