Timothy W. Secomb, University of Arizona

Structural adaptation of blood vessels

Friday September 14th, 4pm, Phillips 332
(refreshments served in Phillips 330 starting at 3:30)

Abstract: The circulatory system is a dynamic structure. Blood vessels grow or regress during development and in a variety of normal and disease states, over time scales of hours, days and longer. Under normal conditions, these structural changes ensure that all parts of the tissue are supplied with blood, and that the network structure is well organized and efficient with regard both to the volume of blood needed and the energy required to drive the flow. Theoretical models have been used to investigate how this is achieved through vessel responses to several stimuli, including wall shear stress, tension in vessel walls, metabolic needs, and information transfer along vessel walls, and how this process is perturbed in disease states.