Effect of the calcium blocker, lanthanum, on bovine aortic smooth muscle cells in culture.

Smooth muscle cells harvested from fetal bovine aortic media were grown in subculture in Waymouth medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum for 14 days. Lanthanum (La3+), an inorganic Ca2+- blocker, was added in a concentration of 10(-3) M to the medium. The cultured smooth muscle cells showed short-spindle-shaped or polygonal endothelial cell-like forms, keeping a monolayer of paving-stone pattern and reached the stationary phase. They stayed in a monolayer state until the end of the 14-day culture. By fluorescent staining with FITC-labelled anti-factor VIII serum, the presence of factor VIII antigen, which is regarded as characteristic of endothelial cells in general, was demonstrated. When the medium was changed to the medium not containing La3+, the usual state of smooth muscle cells showing spindle-shaped multilayer proliferation was recovered, therefore demonstrating that this change is reversible.