title: Concentration and time effects of dextran exposure on endothelial cell viability, attachment, and inflammatory marker expression in vitro.
abstract: Dextran is commonly used to alter growth medium rheological properties for in vitro flow experiments in order to match physiological parameters. Despite its acceptance in literature, few studies have examined dextran effects on cells. In this study, we investigated changes in endothelial cell function due to dextran, under static and flow conditions, in a concentration and time-dependent manner. Dextran increased endothelial cell viability, decreased their ability to attach to culture plates and decreased leukocyte adhesion to endothelial cells. Under static conditions, dextran increased protein and mRNA expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) in a concentration and time-dependent manner and caused the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB. Steady laminar wall shear stress modulated the effects of dextran on ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and NF-kappaB expression in straight/tubular in vitro models. When the expression was normalized to their respective time matched static dextran control, it did not affect the ability to detect changes caused by shear on the mRNA expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. This study demonstrates that dextran can alter endothelial cell function and therefore, caution is advised and time matched dextran controls are necessary when using dextran for dynamic cell studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B2, Canada.
authors.forename: Leonie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rouleau
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Leask
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D003911:Dextrans / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D003911:Dextrans