Barrett L A, Mergner W J, Trump B F
In Vitro. 1979 Dec;15(12):957-66. doi: 10.1007/BF02619155.
Segments of human thoracic aorta were maintained in long-term explant culture for 18 weeks in serum-supplemented medium. The aortas were grossly normal in appearance, and random samples fixed for light microscopy prior to culture revealed a normal morphology. The intima contained no more than five layers of smooth muscle cells. After 7 days in culture, the intima was noticeably thicker than the uncultured segments. The increased thickness was due to proliferating smooth muscle cells and production of extracellular material. After several months in culture, extracellular material consisting of collagen and flocculent material was present in areas resembling atherosclerotic fibrous plaques. A peripheral growth, which formed around the explant, was composed of fibroblastlike cells and added to the overall thickness of the intima. However, aortic segment maintained for up to 2 months in serum-free culture medium showed no cellular proliferation. This study demonstrates that changes resembling early stages of atherosclerosis occur in human aortas maintained in explant culture using routine culture procedures.
将人胸主动脉段在补充血清的培养基中进行长期外植体培养18周。主动脉外观大体正常，培养前随机取样固定用于光学显微镜检查显示形态正常。内膜含有不超过五层平滑肌细胞。培养7天后，内膜明显比未培养的节段厚。厚度增加是由于平滑肌细胞增殖和细胞外物质的产生。培养数月后，在类似动脉粥样硬化纤维斑块的区域出现了由胶原蛋白和絮状物质组成的细胞外物质。在外植体周围形成的外周生长物由成纤维细胞样细胞组成，增加了内膜的总厚度。然而，在无血清培养基中培养长达2个月的主动脉段未显示细胞增殖。这项研究表明，使用常规培养程序在体外培养的人主动脉中会出现类似动脉粥样硬化早期阶段的变化。
