DETECTION OF MINIMAL BUT SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF VON-WILLEBRAND-FACTOR IN HUMAN OMENTUM MESOTHELIAL CELL-CULTURES

The presence of von Willebrand factor (vWF) in human mesothelial cells is a controversial issue. The aim of this paper was to investigate th e presence of VWF in human mesothelial cell cultures by means of multi ple specific techniques and to compare the amount of vWF to that in en dothelial cell cultures. Morphological evidence that vWF is present in the cell cytoplasm in human omentum mesothelial cells (HOMC) has been obtained by vWF staining by means of anti-vWF antibodies and immunofl uorescence. The VWF concentration value (measured by ELISA) was 0.02 n g/mL in the supernatant of HOMC (160,000 ng/mL cells/ml after 12-48 ho urs) and between 0.08-0.12 ng/mL in the supernatant of endothelial cel l cultures (160,000 cells/ml). Ethidium-bromide staining of PCR produc ts recorded the typical vWF signal both in the endothelial and in the mesothelial cell cultures, although it was noticeably more intense in the endothelial cell culture. These data show that minimal but signifi cant amounts of vWF are present in human mesothelial cell cultures.