LONG-TERM CHEMOTAXIS STUDIES ON ADHERENT CELLS - EFFECT OF PLATELET-DERIVED GROWTH FACTOR-BB ON HUMAN VASCULAR SMOOTH-MUSCLE CELL-MIGRATION

Several chemotaxis methods have been developed which allow the study o f different aspects of cell migration. The major limitation of such me thods is the lack of a sustained chemotactic signal. Long-term chemota xis phenomena which are known to take place in vivo have remained larg ely uninvestigated. Ways to maintain sustained chemotactic signals wer e sought and then used to investigate the long-term chemotactic effect of platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) on human vascular smoo th muscle cells (HVSMC). PDGF-BB was adsorbed onto microcarrier beads and then embedded in agar. PDGF-BB diffusion was slow and a high and s ustained local concentration was maintained in the agar. When PDGF-BB- loaded beads embedded in agar were placed at the edge of a tissue cult ure dish with HVSMC plated in the center, preferential movement was ob served in the direction of the PDGF-BB source. This method was subsequ ently used to study directional movement of HVSMC arising from explant s, This report demonstrates that PDGF-BB if present in an anisotropic concentration induces directional cell movement from such explants. By allowing the study of the effect of sustained chemotactic signals upo n cultured cells or cells arising from explants, this method may provi de a suitable model for investigating in vivo chemotaxis phenomena. (C ) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.