title: Cardiac microvascular endothelial cells express and release nerve growth factor but not fibroblast growth factor-2.
abstract: Endothelial cells (ECs) from different vascular beds not only display common characteristics but are also quite heterogeneous in terms of expression and secretion of neuro-angiogenic factors, which may help explain some of their distinct physiological roles. We investigated by RT-PCR the gene expression, by PC12 bioassay the neurotropic activity, and by ELISAs the levels of NGF and FGF-2 using conditioned medium collected from cultures of ECs derived from myocardial and cerebral capillaries. While NGF was expressed and released by both cell types, FGF-2 was expressed and released solely by the brain but not heart ECs. Oxygen-glucose deprivation (ischemic) insult blocked NGF secretion from heart and brain ECs and inhibited by 70% the secretion of FGF-2 from brain ECs. We propose that the differential expression of NGF and FGF-2 in heart and brain EC cultures reflect heterogeneity on demand of the microcapillary components and the surrounding microenvironment for a proper tissue-specific homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: The School of Pharmacy Institute for Drug Research, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Shimon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lecht
authors.forename: Carola
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Foerster
authors.forename: Hadar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arien-Zakay
authors.forename: Cezary
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marcinkiewicz
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lazarovici
authors.forename: Peter I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Lelkes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D051379:Mice; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000502:physiology; D016716:PC12 Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor