IN VITRO BEHAVIOR OF GUINEA PIG ARTERIAL AND VENOUS ENDOTHELIAL CELLS.

Techniques to clone endothelial cells from adult guinea pig artery and vein are described. Cloned arterial and venous endothelial cells differed in their in vitro behavior. The differences between these two types of endothelial cells grown under identical conditions are: (1) venous endothelial cells have a greator mitotic potential than the arterial cells, (2) arterial endothelial cells have a much greator affinity to the substratum than venous endothelial cells, and (3) arterial endothelial cells exhibit a marked propensity to deposit lipid in their cytoplasm; whereas, the venous endothelial cells do not reveal lipid droplets. Labeled H-oleic acid added to the nutrient medium was incorporated into the lipid deposits found in the arterial endothelial cells. Both types of endothelial cells bound antibody prepared against smooth muscle myosin. The observed difference in the in vitro behavior of these two types of endothelial cells may be a reflection of their intrinsic characteristics.