Abstract
Endothelial cells (ECs) from different vascular beds not only display common characteristics but are also quite heterogeneous in terms of expression and secretion of neuro-angiogenic factors, which may help explain some of their distinct physiological roles. We investigated by RT-PCR the gene expression, by PC12 bioassay the neurotropic activity, and by ELISAs the levels of NGF and FGF-2 using conditioned medium collected from cultures of ECs derived from myocardial and cerebral capillaries. While NGF was expressed and released by both cell types, FGF-2 was expressed and released solely by the brain but not heart ECs. Oxygen-glucose deprivation (ischemic) insult blocked NGF secretion from heart and brain ECs and inhibited by 70% the secretion of FGF-2 from brain ECs. We propose that the differential expression of NGF and FGF-2 in heart and brain EC cultures reflect heterogeneity on demand of the microcapillary components and the surrounding microenvironment for a proper tissue-specific homeostasis.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported in part by a grant-in-aid form the Stein Family Foundations (PL and PIL); PL is affiliated and partially supported by the David R. Bloom Center for Pharmacy; and the Dr. Adolf and Klara Brettler Center for Research in Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; SL is supported by "Eshkol" fellowship from the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology.
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Editor: J. Denry Sato
Shimon Lecht—this study is part of the PhD thesis of SL to be submitted to The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
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Lecht, S., Foerster, C., Arien-Zakay, H. et al. Cardiac microvascular endothelial cells express and release nerve growth factor but not fibroblast growth factor-2. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Animal 46, 469–476 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11626-009-9267-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11626-009-9267-5