Hughes S E
Division of Histopathology, United Medical and Dental Schools, St. Thomas's Campus, London, United Kingdom.
Exp Cell Res. 1996 May 25;225(1):171-85. doi: 10.1006/excr.1996.0168.
To gain insight into the role of the endothelial cell during the pathophysiology of the angiogenic response, investigators have isolated micro- and macrovascular endothelial cells from a wide range of both animal and human vessels, including the umbilical vein. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) isolated from umbilical cords remain a readily available and popular source of endothelial cell. However, the isolation and culture of these cells have several disadvantages, including the risk of infection, exogenous growth factor requirement, and low proliferative capacity. The heterogeneity of endothelial cells from different vascular beds as well as the heterogeneity between HUVEC isolates from different cords can make the critical interpretation of results difficult. ECV304 is a unique spontaneously transformed human umbilical vein endothelial cell line. In this report, the novel use of ECV304 cells as an alternative to HUVECs in an in vitro model of angiogenesis using the reconstituted basement membrane extract (Matrigel) was investigated. ECV304 cells were characterized immunohistochemically and their angiogenic behavior on Matrigel was analyzed functionally by phase-contrast, electron, and time-lapse video microscopy. ECV304 cells had several practical advantages over HUVEC culture and in contrast to HUVECs, ECV304 cells exhibited an enhanced and highly reproducible capacity for in vitro angiogenesis. However, several differentiated functions were lost or reduced in the ECV304 cell line which also exhibited anomalous cytokeratin expression. ECV304 cells may provide novel insights into the mechanisms governing angiogenesis under both normal physiological and pathological conditions.
为深入了解内皮细胞在血管生成反应病理生理学过程中的作用，研究人员已从包括脐静脉在内的多种动物和人体血管中分离出微血管和大血管内皮细胞。从脐带分离出的人脐静脉内皮细胞（HUVECs）仍然是一种容易获得且常用的内皮细胞来源。然而，这些细胞的分离和培养存在几个缺点，包括感染风险、需要外源性生长因子以及增殖能力较低。来自不同血管床的内皮细胞的异质性以及来自不同脐带的HUVEC分离株之间的异质性会使结果的关键解读变得困难。ECV304是一种独特的自发转化的人脐静脉内皮细胞系。在本报告中，研究了在使用重组基底膜提取物（基质胶）的体外血管生成模型中，将ECV304细胞作为HUVECs的替代物的新用途。通过免疫组织化学对ECV304细胞进行了表征，并通过相差显微镜、电子显微镜和延时视频显微镜对其在基质胶上的血管生成行为进行了功能分析。与HUVEC培养相比，ECV304细胞具有几个实际优势，并且与HUVECs不同，ECV304细胞在体外血管生成方面表现出增强的且高度可重复的能力。然而，ECV304细胞系丧失或降低了几种分化功能，并且还表现出异常的细胞角蛋白表达。ECV304细胞可能为正常生理和病理条件下控制血管生成的机制提供新的见解。
