Brain- and liver cell-derived factors are required for growth of human endothelial cells in serum-free culture.

A test of the mitogenic activity of greater than 40 purified and crude sources of hormones and growth factors revealed that epidermal growth factor, high density lipoprotein, an extract of bovine pituitary, hypothalamus, or whole brain, and the medium conditioned by differentiated human hepatoma cells were mitogenic for cultured endothelial cells derived from human umbilical vein. The four active agents combined with an improved nutrient medium and a collagen- or fibronectin-coated culture surface supported the growth of the endothelial cell population at a rate of 0.70-0.80 generations per day at both low and high cell densities in serum-free medium. The brain-derived activity exhibited properties reported by Maciag et al. [Maciag, T., Hoover, A. & Weinstein, R. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 5333-5336] and Gordon et al. [Gordon, P. B., Sussman, I. I. & Hatcher, V. B. (1983) In Vitro 19, 661-671]. The liver cell-derived activity was a specific product of differentiated hepatoma cells. The medium from HeLa cells, relatively undifferentiated rat liver cell lines, and human fibroblasts was inactive. Purified plasma proteins of liver origin could not substitute for the hepatoma cell-conditioned medium. The hepatoma cell-derived activity was non-dialyzable, heat-labile, stable between pH 4 to 11, inactivated by trypsin and mercaptoethanol treatment, and stable after treatment with 6 M urea and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. The results provide a simplified model for elucidation of the endocrinology of human endothelial cell growth, function, and aging. We suggest an endocrine role of both the nervous system and liver in the regeneration of endothelial cells.