A novel method for segmenting growth of cells in sheared endothelial culture reveals the secretion of an anti-inflammatory mediator.

The results are consistent with the release of a mediator from cells exposed to high-magnitude uniaxial shear stress that has anti-inflammatory effects on activated endothelium; the mediator may be of importance in atherogenesis. Hence the new methods revealed an important property that would not have been observed without growth segmentation, suggesting that they could find more widespread application.