Canine jugular vein endothelial cell monolayers in vitro: vasomediator-activated diffusive albumin pathway.

Cultured canine jugular vein endothelial cells were seeded on polycarbonate filters to create an in vitro permeability assay. The calculated diffusive permeability coefficient for FITC-BSA across untreated monolayers was 1.1 +/- 0.4 x 10(-6) cm/s. After 15-min incubations with either histamine or bradykinin, the resistance to albumin flux across the monolayers was reduced significantly. Diffusive albumin permeability coefficients were 3.4 +/- 1.8 x 10(-6) and 4.1 +/- 2.0 x 10(-6) cm/s, respectively. Ultrastructural morphometric analyses of the endothelial cell monolayers served to define uniform dimensions of intercellular clefts and similar plasmalemmal vesicle densities in the untreated and the vasomediator-activated monolayers. These results are consistent with the interpretation that the vasomediator-activated pathway across the venous endothelial monolayers is not dependent on sustained intercellular gap formation or sustained expansion of the plasmalemmal vesicle population for the 15-min observation periods. Whether the increased albumin flux is dependent on transient gap formation or on physical changes within the venous endothelial cell glycocalyx remains to be tested.