Endothelial cells in low and high glucose medium did not align in the flow direction, whereas cells in normal glucose aligned.

<p>Cells in high glucose also aligned in response to cyclic strain. Actin (red) and nuclei (blue) before and after A) shear stress and B) cyclic strain, both applied in the horizontal direction. Scale bar = 50 µm. C) Percentage aligned actin fibers for shear stress, D) average actin fiber angle (absolute value) for shear stress, and E) percentage aligned actin fibers for cyclic strain. *p<0.01, #p<0.05 compared to static sample for the same culture condition. Shear stress experiments were completed in duplicate, and cyclic strain experiments were completed in triplicate. Each experiment was repeated three times.