ENDOTHELIAL-CELLS ON DACRON VASCULAR PROSTHESES - ADHERENCE, GROWTH, AND SUSCEPTIBILITY TO NEUTROPHILS

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) on knitted and woven Da cron prostheses were compared with HUVEC on smooth surfaces (tissue cu lture polystyrene, PET film, and Natrix) with regard to adherence, gro wth, and susceptibility to injury by neutrophils (PMN). These are prop erties of importance for successful seeding or coating of prostheses. For prosthetic material of given macroscopic dimensions, more endothel ial cells (EC) adhered than to smooth surfaces. However, the prosthese s had a greater effective surface area as determined by the number of EC at confluency. When this parameter was taken into account, fewer EC were found adherent to prosthetic material per unit effective surface area than for the smooth surface substrates. Growth on prostheses was clearly inferior to that on smooth surfaces, and EC on prostheses wer e more susceptible to attack by activated PMN than on smooth surfaces. These differences may reflect the topographic differences in cells at tached to fibers where they assume more distorted shapes by stretching to span fibers. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.