ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ENDOTHELIAL-CELLS FROM DIFFERENT ORGANS OF FETAL PIGS

The purpose of this study was to isolate endothelial cells from differ ent organs of porcine fetuses and to examine the binding of endothelia l markers including lectins. Endothelial cells were isolated from the aorta, cerebral cortex, myocardium, ovary and testis. Binding of the a ntibodies to von Willebrand factor (vWF) and angiotensin converting en zyme (ACE), the presence of Weibel Palade bodies (WPB), uptake of acet ylated low density lipoprotein (acLDL), and labelling with the lectins Bandeiraea simplicifolia agglutinin I(BS I), Peanut agglutinin (PNA), Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) and Ulex europaeus agglutinin I (U EA I) were examined. Cell preparations displayed cobblestone-like morp hology with the exception of testicular endothelium, which formed arcu ate structures. Endothelium isolated from the brain labelled more stro ngly than any other cell line with the lectin PNA, but it did not expr ess ACE. In contrast to other cell preparations, myocardial endotheliu m showed very low binding of anti-vWF Ovarian endothelium was able to perform in vitro angiogenesis. Moreover, these endothelial cells posse ssed the largest number of WPB. Testicular endothelium displayed highe st binding of vWF Endothelium isolated from the aorta, in contrast to all other endothelial cells, did not take up acLDL. These results demo nstrate that organ- and tissue-specific heterogeneity is already expre ssed in fetal endothelium.