Schematic overview of a blood vessel and the endothelial cell microenvironment. The inner wall of a blood vessel (left) consists of a layer of endothelial cells that are embedded in a three-dimensional microenvironment (right). This environment consists of cell biological, biochemical, and physical stimuli, such as red and white blood cells, signaling molecules, and shear stress, respectively. Mimicking this complex microenvironment in vitro is a major challenge in vascular research.
