SPECIFIC-INHIBITION OF VASCULAR CELL-ADHESION MOLECULE-1 EXPRESSION BY TYPE-IV COLLAGEN IN ENDOTHELIAL-CELLS

The effects of matrices on the expression of adhesion molecules were s tudied in cultured human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells(HUVEC). The expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) but not of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 stimulated with various substance s was remarkably low in HUVEC cultured on type IV collagen, the major component of the basement membrane, compared with that on type I colla gen. This inhibition was observed not only at the protein level but al so at the mRNA level. These data suggested that VCAM-1 expression in e ndothelial cells is strictly regulated by the underlying basement memb rane. (C) 1995 Academic Press. Inc.