Metabolic aspects of endothelial cells cultured from rat aortae.

We measured the lactate production, oxygen uptake and ATP in aortic endothelial cells cultured from young Wistar female rats. For these experiments, thoracic aortae were removed from the animals, minced into small pieces and transferred onto culture plates, to which a growth factor was added. When the endothelial cells had proliferated, the original pieces were removed from the culture and the remaining cells were subcultured until the 3rd passage. Regarding the growth curves of the 3rd passage, a logarithmic growth phase (Pg) was found from the 2nd to the 7th days and a stationary phase (Ps) followed thereafter. The ATP levels in the Pg and Ps were unchanged. Rates of lactate production and oxygen uptake were higher in the Pg than in the Ps. Only in the Ps was an interrelationship between these estimations found, suggesting that the confluent state exhibits metabolic cooperation between the cells in culture.