Fluid shear and other mechanical forces play an important role in the normal biophysical, biochemical, and gene regulatory responses of vertebrate tissue that are reflected in the expression of normal cell differentiation, growth, and function. Despite some promising work reported on the application of the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) to both prokaryote and eukaryote cells over the last decade, QCM has yet to be successfully applied to cells in culture under conditions of flow-induced shear. In this study, high sensitivity QCM in conjunction with fluid modelling was used to monitor the onset of senescence in immortalised human embryonic kidney cells under lami- 2 nar shear stresses of between 0.04 and 335 dyne/cm(2) The feasibility of this approach as a means of quantification and characterisation of cell physiological response and adhesion are explored and discussed. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.