title: Influence of growth hormone on maintenance of capillary-like structures in an in vitro model of stromal vascular tissue--results from morphometric analysis.
abstract: The in vitro development of a vascular stroma might be a solution for the engineering of vascularized tissues, however, in vitro stability of capillary-like structures is limited. In order to test the influence on maintenance of capillary-like structures, human growth hormone (hGH) was added in concentrations of 0.5, 5, 50, and 500 ng/mL in an in vitro model of stromal vascular tissue. The angiogenic response and maintenance of capillary-like structures were analyzed by means of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and image analysis after 8, 16, and 32 days of culture. The highest angiogenic response was observed with a concentration of 50 ng/mL hGH. With the addition of 50 and 500 ng/mL, the length of capillary-like structures could be maintained on high levels up to the 32nd day of culture, whereas with 5 ng/mL values dropped to the level of the control group. The proposed technique of analysis allows quantification of capillary-like network formation and might be useful for tissue engineering applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Facial Plastic Surgery, Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig, Nürnberger Strasse 57, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany. frerich@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Frerich
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kurtz-Hoffmann
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lindemann
mesh_terms: D002196:Capillaries / Q000254:growth & development*; D018920:Coculture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D019382:Human Growth Hormone