Biomaterials used in some bioreactors are porous and exposed to normal and tangential flow of physiological fluid. Flow-induced forces may influence the morphological and biochemical responses of cells adhering to these materials. The objective of this work is to examine the capacity of mechanical stress to cause changes in cell morphology via the cAMP pathway (cyclic adenosine monophosphate). This second messenger is known to modulate cell morphology in static conditions. In classical flow devices, cells are submitted to only tangential stresses. We designed a new flow system, a Hele-Shaw cell with a porous bottom wall, in order to take into account the influence of a transmural pressure. This flow chamber allows to follow up continuously the shape changes of cells that are adherent to a porous biomaterial (polyacrylonitrile) and are exposed to controlled levels of shear stress or transmural pressure. Mouse Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts exposed to a 1.1-Pa shear stress, as well as those exposed to a 84-mm Hg transmural pressure, round up (up to 50%) in a few minutes. If the cAMP pathway is inhibited when a mechanical stress is applied, cell rounding is significantly prevented. These observations suggest that flow-induced cell shape changes are cAMP-dependent. This conclusion is supported by an increased cAMP accumulation measured in cells under mechanical stress when compared to static experiments. Our in vitro flow system is thus useful to study the influence of transmural pressure or shear stress on the early morphological and biochemical responses of cells in contact with a biomaterial.