Conversion of cultured monocytes/macrophages into endothelial-like cells through direct contact with endothelial cells.
When culturing human umbilical vein endothelial cells in a culture medium containing 4% human serum albumin, it was possible to maintain the epithelioid morphology and function for several months without subculturing. When coculturing endothelial cells and labeled monocytes/macrophages (Mo/Phi) that were collected from peripheral blood and allowed to engulf fluorescent latex beads, some Mo/Phi changed their shapes and became epithelioid cells that were indistinguishable from vascular endothelial cells. This transformation started within several hours of coculturing. At 7 days after the start of coculturing, more than half of the labeled cells were identified as endothelial-like cells morphologically. Furthermore, morphologically altered Mo/Phi did not express Mo/Phi-specific antigens, ie, the MHC Class II molecule and CD68, but expressed VE cadherin and vWF, which are specific antigens for endothelial cells, and labeled cells that changed into endothelial-like cells no longer engulfed fluorescent latex beads. This strongly suggests that peripheral blood monocytes differentiate into endothelial-like cells.
Department of Medical Technology, Kobe Tokiwa College, Kobe, Japan. mbohgaki@kobe-tokiwa.ac.jp
Miyako
M
Bohgaki
Hiromichi
H
Kitaguchi
D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D018920:Coculture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000502:physiology*; D014471:Umbilical Veins / Q000166:cytology; D014841:von Willebrand Factor / Q000378:metabolism
D015820:Cadherins; D014841:von Willebrand Factor