Interaction between endothelial cells and basement membrane components. In vitro studies on endothelial cell adhesion to collagen types I, III, IV and high molecular weight fragments of IV.

Understanding the mechanisms involved in maintaining the integrity of the vascular endothelium is fundamental to studies on atherosclerosis, thrombosis, inflammation and tumor invasion. One of the essential aspects is the relationship between the endothelial cell (EC) layer and the underlying components of the basement membrane (BM). The importance of the biological role of the individual components of the BM in the promotion of EC adhesion is investigated. In this study suspensions of bovine corneal ECs (BCECs; 5 x 10(4)/ml) were used to investigate the adhesion of EC to collagen type IV and a mixture of fragments of the tetrameric molecule (IV-F, consisting of 75, 120 and 140 kD fragments), as well as collagen types I and III, coated at a 10-micrograms/ml concentration onto glass coverslips in vitro. Adhesion was quantified after 2 h of interaction by direct counting in the light microscope following fixation of the adherent cells. Collagens type IV and IV-F markedly promoted BCEC adhesion both in the presence or absence of 10 or 50% fetal calf serum, indicating that the integrity of the tetrameric molecule is not required for EC adhesion to collagen type IV, but can be replaced by high molecular weight fragments. Collagens type I and III increased EC adhesion in the absence of serum, although not in the presence of serum. Indirect evidence for a possible role of fibronectin in EC adhesion to type-IV collagen is given by the ability of the tetrapeptide (Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (10 micrograms) to temporarily block (15-30 min) the adhesion-promoting effect of type-IV collagen. The nature of the adhesion sequences on the fragments of type-IV collagen remains to be elucidated.