Isolation and Culture of Avian Embryonic Valvular Progenitor Cells

Proper formation and function of embryonic heart valves is critical for developmental progression. The early embryonic heart is a U-shaped tube of endocardium surrounded by myocardium. The myocardium secretes cardiac jelly, a hyaluronan-rich gelatinous matrix, into the atrioventricular (AV) junction and outflow tract (OFT) lumen. At stage HH14 valvulogenesis begins when a subset of endocardial cells receive signals from the myocardium, undergo endocardial to mesenchymal transformation (EMT), and invade the cardiac jelly. At stage HH25 the valvular cushions are fully mesenchymalized, and it is this mesenchyme that eventually forms the valvular and septal apparatus of the heart. Understanding the mechanisms that initiate and modulate the process of EMT and cell differentiation are important because of their connection to serious congenital heart defects. In this study we present methods to isolate pre-EMT endocardial and post-EMT mesenchymal cells, which are the two different cell phenotypes of the prevalvular cushion. Pre-EMT endocardial cells can be cultured with or without the myocardium. Post-EMT AV cushion mesenchymal cells can be cultured inside mechanically constrained or stress-free collagen gels. These 3D in vitro models mimic key valvular morphogenic events and are useful for deconstructing the mechanisms of early and late stage valvulogenesis.Download video file.^{(86M, mov)}     

Isolation of Embryonic Ventricular Endothelial Cells

Cell culture has greatly enhanced our ability to assess individual populations of cells under myriad culture conditions. While immortalized cell lines offer significant advantages for their ease of use, these cell lines are unavailable for all potential cell types. By isolating primary cells from a specific region of interest, particularly from a transgenic mouse, more nuanced studies can be performed. The basic technique involves dissecting the organ or partial organ of interest (e.g. the heart or a specific region of the heart) and dissociating the organ to single cells. These cells are then incubated with magnetic beads conjugated to an antibody that recognizes the cell type of interest. The cells of interest can then be isolated with the use of a magnet, with a short trypsin incubation dissociating the cells from the beads. These isolated cells can then be cultured and analyzed as desired. This technique was originally designed for adult mouse organs but can be easily scaled down for use with embryonic organs, as demonstrated herein. Because our interest is in the developing coronary vasculature, we wanted to study this population of cells during specific embryonic stages. Thus, the original protocol had to be modified to be compatible with the small size of the embryonic ventricles and the low potential yield of endothelial cells at these developmental stages. Utilizing this scaled-down approach, we have assessed coronary plexus remodeling in transgenic embryonic ventricular endothelial cells.     

Isolation of Murine Valve Endothelial Cells

Normal valve structures consist of stratified layers of specialized extracellular matrix (ECM) interspersed with valve interstitial cells (VICs) and surrounded by a monolayer of valve endothelial cells (VECs). VECs play essential roles in establishing the valve structures during embryonic development, and are important for maintaining life-long valve integrity and function. In contrast to a continuous endothelium over the surface of healthy valve leaflets, VEC disruption is commonly observed in malfunctioning valves and is associated with pathological processes that promote valve disease and dysfunction. Despite the clinical relevance, focused studies determining the contribution of VECs to development and disease processes are limited. The isolation of VECs from animal models would allow for cell-specific experimentation. VECs have been isolated from large animal adult models but due to their small population size, fragileness, and lack of specific markers, no reports of VEC isolations in embryos or adult small animal models have been reported. Here we describe a novel method that allows for the direct isolation of VECs from mice at embryonic and adult stages. Utilizing the Tie2-GFP reporter model that labels all endothelial cells with Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP), we have been successful in isolating GFP-positive (and negative) cells from the semilunar and atrioventricular valve regions using fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). Isolated GFP-positive VECs are enriched for endothelial markers, including CD31 and von Willebrand Factor (vWF), and retain endothelial cell expression when cultured; while, GFP-negative cells exhibit molecular profiles and cell shapes consistent with VIC phenotypes. The ability to isolate embryonic and adult murine VECs allows for previously unattainable molecular and functional studies to be carried out on a specific valve cell population, which will greatly improve our understanding of valve development and disease mechanisms.     

Isolation of Primary Murine Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells

The blood-brain-barrier is ultrastructurally assembled by a monolayer of brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMEC) interconnected by a junctional complex of tight and adherens junctions. Together with other cell-types such as astrocytes or pericytes, they form the neurovascular unit (NVU), which specifically regulates the interchange of fluids, molecules and cells between the peripheral blood and the CNS. Through this complex and dynamic system BMECs are involved in various processes maintaining the homeostasis of the CNS. A dysfunction of the BBB is observed as an essential step in the pathogenesis of many severe CNS diseases. However, specific and targeted therapies are very limited, as the underlying mechanisms are still far from being understood. Animal and in vitro models have been extensively used to gain in-depth understanding of complex physiological and pathophysiological processes. By reduction and simplification it is possible to focus the investigation on the subject of interest and to exclude a variety of confounding factors. However, comparability and transferability are also reduced in model systems, which have to be taken into account for evaluation. The most common animal models are based on mice, among other reasons, mainly due to the constantly increasing possibilities of methodology. In vitro studies of isolated murine BMECs might enable an in-depth analysis of their properties and of the blood-brain-barrier under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Further insights into the complex mechanisms at the BBB potentially provide the basis for new therapeutic strategies.This protocol describes a method to isolate primary murine microvascular endothelial cells by a sequence of physical and chemical purification steps. Special considerations for purity and cultivation of MBMECs as well as quality control, potential applications and limitations are discussed.     

Isolation and Culture Expansion of Tumor-specific Endothelial Cells

Freshly isolated tumor-specific endothelial cells (TEC) can be used to explore molecular mechanisms of tumor angiogenesis and serve as an in vitro model for developing new angiogenesis inhibitors for cancer. However, long-term in vitro expansion of murine endothelial cells (EC) is challenging due to phenotypic drift in culture (endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition) and contamination with non-EC. This is especially true for TEC which are readily outcompeted by co-purified fibroblasts or tumor cells in culture. Here, a high fidelity isolation method that takes advantage of immunomagnetic enrichment coupled with colony selection and in vitro expansion is described. This approach generates pure EC fractions that are entirely free of contaminating stromal or tumor cells. It is also shown that lineage-traced Cdh5^cre:ZsGreen^l/s/l reporter mice, used with the protocol described herein, are a valuable tool to verify cell purity as the isolated EC colonies from these mice show durable and brilliant ZsGreen fluorescence in culture.     

大鼠主动脉内皮细胞的分离培养和鉴定

目的:探索大鼠主动脉原代内皮细胞体外培养方法,为体外研究提供细胞模型。方法:分离大鼠主动脉,直接贴壁于培养皿中,荧光倒置显微镜观察细胞形态,免疫组化Ⅷ因子相关抗原染色鉴定细胞。结果:约24小时组织块边缘有游离的新生细胞长出,7天即融合成片。消化传代后细胞呈短梭形或三角形,单层生长,铺路石状,Ⅷ因子表达阳性,呈指数增殖。冻存后复苏细胞活性均超过90%。结论:用贴壁法成功建立了大鼠血管内皮细胞体外培养方法,冻存细胞存活率高,为体外研究提供了稳定的模型。     

内皮祖细胞的分离培养与鉴定

内皮祖细胞的分离方法有免疫磁珠分离法、淋巴细胞分离液分离法(1.077)和差速贴壁法,这3种方法已被人们广泛使用,均可分离到一定的目的细胞。分离到的目的细胞在培养过程中逐渐分化、成熟、发育为内皮细胞。在内皮细胞和内皮祖细胞的鉴别区分,使用CD34+/CD133+/KDR+鉴定为内皮祖细胞,同时使用内皮祖细胞吞噬D il-ac-LDLFITC-UEA双阳性的方法也可鉴定为内皮祖细胞。     

Isolation and Culture of Endothelial Cells from the Embryonic Forebrain

Embryonic brain endothelial cells can serve as an important tool in the study of angiogenesis and neurovascular development and interactions. The two vascular networks of the embryonic forebrain, pial and periventricular, are spatially distinctive and have different origins and growth patterns. Endothelial cells from the pial and periventricular vascular networks have unique gene expression profiles and functions. Here we present a step-by-step protocol for isolation, culture, and verification of pure populations of endothelial cells from the periventricular vascular network (PVECs) of the embryonic forebrain (telencephalon). In this approach, telencephalon devoid of pial membrane obtained from embryonic day 15 mice is minced, digested with collagenase/dispase, and dispersed mechanically into a single cell suspension. PVECs are purified from cell suspension using positive selection with anti-CD-31/PECAM-1 antibody conjugated to MicroBeads using a strong magnetic separation method. Purified cells are cultured on collagen 1 coated culture dishes in endothelial cell culture medium until they become confluent and further subcultured. PVECs obtained with this protocol exhibit cobblestone and spindle shaped phenotypes, as visualized by phase-contrast light microscopy and fluorescence microscopy. Purity of PVEC cultures was established with endothelial cell markers. In our hands, this method reliably and consistently yields pure populations of PVECs. This protocol will benefit studies aimed at gaining mechanistic insights into forebrain angiogenesis, understanding PVEC interactions, and cross-talks with neuronal cell types and holds tremendous potential for therapeutic angiogenesis.     

Isolation and Culture of Pulmonary Endothelial Cells from Neonatal Mice

Endothelial cells provide a useful research model in many areas of vascular biology. Since its first isolation ¹, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) have shown to be convenient, easy to obtain and culture, and thus are the most widely studied endothelial cells. However, for research focused on processes like angiogenesis, permeability or many others, microvascular endothelial cells (ECs) are a much more physiologically relevant model to study ². Furthermore, ECs isolated from knockout mice provide a useful tool for analysis of protein function ex vivo. Several approaches to isolate and culture microvascular ECs of different origin have been reported to date ^3-7, but consistent isolation and culture of pure ECs is still a major technical problem in many laboratories. Here, we provide a step-by-step protocol on a reliable and relatively simple method of isolating and culturing mouse lung endothelial cells (MLECs). In this approach, lung tissue obtained from 6- to 8-day old pups is first cut into pieces, digested with collagenase/dispase (C/D) solution and dispersed mechanically into single-cell suspension. MLECS are purified from cell suspension using positive selection with anti-PECAM-1 antibody conjugated to Dynabeads using a Magnetic Particle Concentrator (MPC). Such purified cells are cultured on gelatin-coated tissue culture (TC) dishes until they become confluent. At that point, cells are further purified using Dynabeads coupled to anti-ICAM-2 antibody. MLECs obtained with this protocol exhibit a cobblestone phenotype, as visualized by phase-contrast light microscopy, and their endothelial phenotype has been confirmed using FACS analysis with anti-VE-cadherin ⁸ and anti-VEGFR2 ⁹ antibodies and immunofluorescent staining of VE-cadherin. In our hands, this two-step isolation procedure consistently and reliably yields a pure population of MLECs, which can be further cultured. This method will enable researchers to take advantage of the growing number of knockout and transgenic mice to directly correlate in vivo studies with results of in vitro experiments performed on isolated MLECs and thus help to reveal molecular mechanisms of vascular phenotypes observed in vivo.     

大鼠脑微血管内皮细胞的分离与原代培养

为了建立大鼠脑微血管内皮细胞体外培养模型,探索纯度较高的大鼠脑微血管内皮细胞分离和原代培养的方法并进行形态学观察。采用2～3周龄的SD大鼠,解剖得到大脑皮质,两次酶消化及牛血清白蛋白或葡聚糖和Percoll梯度离心获得较纯的脑微血管段后,接种于涂布基质的培养皿进行原代培养;培养的细胞采用相差显微镜形态学观察、透射电镜观察及Ⅷ因子相关抗原免疫组化检测鉴定。结果发现,培养12h即可见细胞从贴壁的脑微血管段周围长出,细胞呈短梭形,区域性单层生长,5～7天内皮细胞融合,内皮细胞纯度达90％以上;内皮细胞的贴壁和生长有赖于所涂布的基质,纤连蛋白／Ⅳ型胶原优于鼠尾胶和明胶;Ⅷ因子相关抗原免疫组化检测内皮细胞表达阳性,透射电镜观察可见相邻内皮细胞间存在紧密连接结构。提示该方法能成功进行纯度较高的大鼠脑微血管内皮细胞原代培养,可用于脑微血管内皮的生理、生化及药理学研究,亦可用于构建大鼠血脑屏障模型。     

Isolation of Living Endothelial Cells by Gelatin-Film Stripping of Vascular Walls

The few available techniques for the isolation of fresh endothelial cells yield harvests heavily contaminated with other cells. A procedure which we have found to be both selective and compatible with viability entails the use of gelatin-coated slides to separate the endothelial surface. When the gelatin has set and the vessel is peeled off, about 7680% of the endothelial cells remain on the slide; of these, less than 10% are other cell types. That the procedure is compatible with survival may be demonstrated by culturability of the harvested cells.     

两种不同内皮祖细胞的分离培养与鉴定

目的:探讨从小鼠骨髓中分离、培养、诱导分化及鉴定两种内皮祖细胞的方法,为进一步研究和临床应用奠定基础。方法:密度梯度离心法分离小鼠骨髓单个核细胞,接种于内皮祖细胞条件培养基,通过贴壁培养法培养出早期内皮祖细胞和晚期内皮祖细胞,并在0 d、6 d、10 d流式鉴定早期内皮祖细胞,在第8周流式鉴定晚期内皮祖细胞。结果:通过体外贴壁扩增培养,从小鼠骨髓细胞中成功培养出EEPC(早期内皮祖细胞)和EOC(晚期内皮祖细胞),表达CD34+/CD133+/VEGFR2+的EEPC比例从最初的0.08%能够增长至70%;EOC大约出现于3-4周,5-8周时呈现指数增长,具有典型的内皮细胞鹅卵石样形态,表达CD31、VEGFR2等内皮细胞表面标志而不表达CD34、CD133等干细胞表面标志。结论:确立了内皮祖细胞体外分离培养和诱导分化的实验方法,为进一步研究奠定基础。     

Isolation of Human Lymphatic Endothelial Cells by Multi-parameter Fluorescence-activated Cell Sorting

Lymphatic system disorders such as primary lymphedema, lymphatic malformations and lymphatic tumors are rare conditions that cause significant morbidity but little is known about their biology. Isolating highly pure human lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) from diseased and healthy tissue would facilitate studies of the lymphatic endothelium at genetic, molecular and cellular levels. It is anticipated that these investigations may reveal targets for new therapies that may change the clinical management of these conditions. A protocol describing the isolation of human foreskin LECs and lymphatic malformation lymphatic endothelial cells (LM LECs) is presented. To obtain a single cell suspension tissue was minced and enzymatically treated using dispase II and collagenase II. The resulting single cell suspension was then labelled with antibodies to cluster of differentiation (CD) markers CD34, CD31, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-3 (VEGFR-3) and PODOPLANIN. Stained viable cells were sorted on a fluorescently activated cell sorter (FACS) to separate the CD34^LowCD31^PosVEGFR-3^PosPODOPLANIN^Pos LM LEC population from other endothelial and non-endothelial cells. The sorted LM LECs were cultured and expanded on fibronectin-coated flasks for further experimental use.     

牛视网膜微血管内皮细胞体外分离与培养的实验研究

目的:探讨牛视网膜微血管内皮细胞(bovine retinal capillary endothelial cells,BREcs)体外分离、培养方法,为研究视网膜血管性疾病提供一定的实验基础。方法:无菌条件下取出视网膜并剪碎,经筛网过滤、胶原酶消化获取视网膜微血管内皮细胞,接种于明胶包被的培养瓶中,原代培养时用不同的培养基筛选细胞,并在传代时利用差速黏附法以获得较纯BRECs,通过形态学观察和免疫组化方法鉴定BRECs。结果:用此法原代培养BRECs纯度达98%,混有的血细胞及神经组织细胞碎片在换液和传代过程中逐渐被去除,成纤维细胞和周细胞的污染可分别用不同的培养基和差速黏附法纯化去除。结论:该方法简单有效,获得的BRECs纯度高,生长状态良好,为研究眼部血管性疾病提供良好平台。     

猪外周血内皮祖细胞的分离培养和鉴定

从猪外周血分离出单个核细胞,置于EGM-2培养基中培养,通过挑选细胞集落并对之进行免疫组织化学染色和荧光染色来鉴定内皮祖细胞。结果显示猪的内皮祖细胞为长梭形或纺锤形并呈集落生长,能够吞噬已酰化低密度脂蛋(ac-LDL)并结合凝结素BS-1,同时具有内皮细胞标志CD31、flk-1和von willebrand factor(vWF)。这些结果表明能够从猪的外周血中分离培养出内皮祖细胞,为自体内皮祖细胞移植促进猪慢性心肌缺血模型血管新生的研究打下了基础。     

鼠骨髓源性内皮祖细胞的分离培养与鉴定

目的探讨大鼠骨髓源性内皮祖细胞(endothelial progenitor cells,EPCs)的分离培养鉴定的方法.方法 Percoll(1.077 g/ml)分离液分离大鼠骨髓单个核细胞,血管内皮生长因子(Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors, VEGF)和碱性成纤维细胞生长因子(basic Fibroblast Growth Factors, bFGF),对其进行诱导培养,光镜观察EPCs形态,免疫荧光检测血小板内皮细胞粘附分子-1(PECAM-1/CD31)、血管内皮钙粘蛋白(VE-cadherin/CD144)、荆豆凝集素-1(FITC-UEA-1)的表达和摄取Dil荧光标记的乙酰化-低密度脂蛋白(Dil-ac-LDL).结果 诱导培养7 d后,可见集落和铺路石样结构,激光扫描共聚焦显微镜(Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope, LSCM)显示表型为CD31+VE-cadherin+双阳性细胞以及具有内皮细胞功能的Dil-ac-LDL和FITC-UEA-1双染色细胞.结论 采用Percoll(1.077 g/ml)密度梯度离心结合VEGF、bFGF诱导培养可以获得EPCs,说明该培养方法可行.     

Isolation and Characterization of Brain Endothelial Cells: Morphology and Enzyme Activity

Microvessels were isolated from rat brain using a double collagenase treatment which removed the endothelial basement membranes. The isolate was characterized by intact luminal and abluminal membranes and an absence of pericytes and astrocyte membranes. Minimal contamination by 5′-nucleotidase, an enzyme believed exclusively localized within the plasma membranes of neuroglia, established the purity of the isolated microvessels. Enrichment of alkaline phosphatase and -γ-glutamyl transpeptidase activity in microvessel preparations supports the endothelial localization of these enzymes.     

Isolation and Large Scale Expansion of Adult Human Endothelial Colony Forming Progenitor Cells

This paper introduces a novel recovery strategy for endothelial colony forming progenitor cells (ECFCs) from heparinized but otherwise unmanipulated adult human peripheral blood within a mean of 12 days. After large scale expansion >1x10⁸ ECFCs can be obtained for further tests. Advantageously by using pHPL the contact of human cells with bovine serum antigens can be excluded. By flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry the isolated cells can be characterized as ECFC and their in vitro functionality to form vascular like structures can be tested in a matrigel assay. Further these cells can be subcutaneously injected in a mouse model to form functional, perfused vessels in vivo. After long term expansion and cryopreservation proliferation, function and genomic stability appear to be preserved. ^3,4This animal-protein free isolation and expansion method is easily applicable to generate a large quantity of ECFCs. Download video file.^{(144M, mp4)}     

内皮祖细胞分离培养及应用技术新进展

内皮祖细胞(Endothelial progenitor cells,EPCs)是能够增殖、迁移、粘附并分化为血管内皮细胞潜能的一种原始细胞,在修复血管内皮和促进血管生成中具有重要的作用。EPC来源于骨髓,存在于骨髓、外周血、脐带血,新研究表明在脂肪组织、心肌中也能发现EPC的存在。EPC与干细胞的细胞表面标志物相似,功能上亦接近干细胞,但不具有自我更新的功能。近年来EPC已成为热点问题,对疾病诊断,预后判断和靶向治疗方面发挥重要作用,在冠状动脉粥样硬化性疾病、糖尿病血管病变、恶性肿瘤等治疗中全身或局部注射EPC具有更广泛的前景和应用价值。但关于分离培养EPC的方法及细胞表面标志物不完全相同,报道较少,至今尚没有形成统一的标准,本文就对于内皮祖细胞基本现状、分离培养技术、分选鉴定及临床应用方面做一综述。     

王不留行中抗人微血管内皮细胞增殖的有效组分的分离和纯化

从中药王不留行中筛选具有抑制内皮细胞增殖的有效单一组分.大孔树脂吸附法进行总皂甙的分离纯化,分别收集不同浓度乙醇溶液洗脱液用SRB法进行细胞活性检测,选择有效部分用AKTA Resource柱分离,按紫外吸收峰收集洗脱液并进行活性验证,通过蒸发光散射检测组分复杂程度,选择活性高、丰度大、成份简单的峰进行C18柱分离.结果表明,王不留行提取液经大孔树脂分离和细胞活性检测发现50%～90%醇浓度洗脱液具有细胞活性,经AKTAResource柱分离得7种组份群(0～6),细胞活性测得3～6号组分有活性,选择4号组分过C18柱得5组分(A～E),B组分为有紫外吸收的主峰,但无细胞活性,其活性分布于D和E组分中,其IC50值为3.75 ug/ml,D组分经蒸发光散射检测为单峰.经上述方法分离纯化获得抑制人微血管内皮细胞增殖的单一组分群,其单一化合物具有潜在的利用价值.