CULTURED HUMAN ENDOTHELIAL-CELLS EXPRESS THE 140-KD ISOFORM OF NEURALCELL-ADHESION MOLECULE (NCAM)

Cultured human saphenous vein endothelial cells (HSVEC) were shown to express neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) by cytofluorographic anal ysis. Radioimmunoprecipitation and subsequent electrophoresis of sampl es prepared from S-35-methionine/cysteine metabolically labeled HSVEC yielded a 140 kD band, consistent with one of the known NCAM isoforms. Northern blot analysis of HSVEC revealed a single species of NCAM- en coding mRNA of approximately 6.1 kb. Together, these data indicate tha t cultured endothelial cells produce and express on their surface the 140 kD isoform of NCAM.