Characteristics of porcine coronary artery endothelial cells in culture: comparison with aortic endothelium.

In the present study we compared the characteristics of porcine coronary artery endothelial cells in culture with the characteristics of aortic endothelium. Morphologically, coronary artery endothelial cells were larger than aortic endothelial cells. Under basal culture conditions, both coronary artery and aortic endothelial cells secreted significant amounts of prostacyclin and endothelin-1. The outstanding findings is that coronary artery endothelial cells secreted larger amounts of endothelin-1 than aortic endothelial cells. Immunofluorescence staining revealed that individual endothelial cells synthesize both substances. This comparative study provides important evidence indicating that the characteristics of coronary artery endothelial cells differ from those of aortic endothelial cells.