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Biomedical subjects

M A Gimbrone

Publications and source records attributed to M A Gimbrone.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Leukotriene B4 stimulates polymorphonuclear leukocyte adhesion to cultured vascular endothelial cells.

Adhesion of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) to the endothelial lining of blood vessels is an essential component of the inflammatory response. We have examined the effects of various lipoxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid on PMN adhesion to cultured vascular endothelial cells, using a quantitative monolayer adhesion assay. Our results indicated that leukotriene B4 (LTB4) could effectively stimulate PMN adhesion to endothelial cell surfaces, in contrast to the sulfidopeptide leukotrienes C4, D4, and E4, and the monohydroxyacid lipoxygenase products of leukocytes and platelets, 5S-hydroxy-6-trans-8,11,14-cis-eicosatetraenoic acid and 12S-hydroxy-5,8-cis,10-trans,14-cis-eicosatetraenoic acid, respectively. LTB4-stimulation of PMN-endothelial adhesion did not appear to be dependent upon the generation of cyclooxygenase metabolites, nor was it inhibited by exogenous prostacyclin. Enhanced PMN adhesion was observed with endothelial cells that were cultured from different types of large vessels (arteries and veins) in several species. These findings suggest an important pathophysiologic role for LTB4 in regulating leukocyte-vessel wall interactions.

Animals↗

Orientation of endothelial cells in shear fields in vitro.

Vascular endothelial cells subjected to fluid shear stress change their shape from polygonal to ellipsoidal and become uniformly oriented with the flow. In order to study the mechanisms of this response, we have measured the relaxation of bovine aortic endothelial cells that were grown on glass coverslips and exposed to fluid shear stress for 72 hours. An image analysis system was developed to quantify the cell shape relaxation that occurs following the cessation of shear stress. This method provides two different quantitative measures of relaxation: the loss of elongated shape by the cells and the change in cell direction with time. After equilibration to a fluid shear stress level of 8 dynes/cm2, cells immersed in static medium relax their shape in about 20 hours. After 72 hours in this static condition, the cell elongation is comparable to that of unstressed control cells but vestiges remain of the original orientation in the flow direction. This relaxation process contributes to our understanding of the response of vascular endothelium to fluid shear stress.

Animals↗

Heterogeneity of myosin antigenic expression in vascular smooth muscle in vivo.

Rabbit antisera elicited against purified human nonmuscle (platelet) and smooth muscle (uterine myometrium) myosins identified distinct species of myosin when frozen sections of a variety of mammalian tissues were examined by immunofluorescence microscopy. Antiplatelet myosin antiserum specifically stained several nonmuscle cell types including epithelial, some connective tissue, and all vascular endothelial (arterial, venous, capillary) cells. Antismooth muscle myosin antiserum stained only smooth muscle and no other cell types. Neither antiserum reacted with rat cardiac (ventricular) or skeletal muscle cells. Antismooth muscle myosin antiserum staining was detectable in medial vascular smooth muscle in all vessels examined from rat, bovine, human, and guinea pig sources (including elastic and muscular arteries, arterioles, venules, and veins). Although antiplatelet myosin antiserum did not stain nonvascular smooth muscle or vascular smooth muscle in muscular arteries, arterioles, venules, or veins, it did uniformly and specifically stain medial vascular smooth muscle in elastic arteries. This staining of elastic arteries was abolished by absorption of antiplatelet myosin antiserum with purified platelet myosin but not uterine myosin. Similarly, the reactivity of antismooth muscle myosin antiserum was abolished by incubation with uterine but not platelet myosin. The differences in staining patterns observed with antiplatelet myosin antiserum and antismooth muscle myosin antiserum in elastic arteries versus other blood vessels suggests a heterogeneity of antigenic expression in vascular smooth muscle myosin. The most likely explanations for this heterogeneity are the presence of different gene products (myosin isozymes) or a posttranslational alteration (possibly conformational) of a single myosin species. Heterogeneity in this important component of the contractile apparatus of vascular smooth muscle may have significant implications for the physiology and pathophysiology of the vessel wall.

Animals↗

Human cytolytic T lymphocyte interactions with vascular endothelium and fibroblasts: role of effector and target cell molecules.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) against cell surface structures have been used to identify several molecules involved in the interaction of human cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) with lymphoid and other bone marrow-derived targets. In allograft rejection or in graft-vs-host disease, however, major cellular targets are vascular and stromal cells, especially endothelium. Yet little is known about whether the same cell surface molecules are involved in the interactions of CTL with these cell types. We assessed the ability of mAb against effector or target cell structures to inhibit cytolysis of susceptible, cultured human vascular endothelium or dermal fibroblasts by a cloned human CTL line. Using mAb reactive with T3, T4, LFA-1, LFA-2, LFA-3, and HLA-DR, we found a qualitatively similar but quantitatively different pattern of inhibition of cytolysis as previously established for lymphoid targets by using the same CTL clone. These results have two implications: 1) the target cell structures recognized by CTL molecules such as T4, LFA-1 and LFA-2 are present on diverse cell types; and 2) the relative importance of such interactions may vary with target cell type. Furthermore, our studies provide several insights into the mechanisms of the interacting molecules. Our model system, and the use of pathophysiologically important target cells, may be useful for further analysis of CTL-mediated immune injury.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Ia expression by vascular endothelium is inducible by activated T cells and by human gamma interferon.

We have used monoclonal antibody binding, measured by radioimmunoassay, fluorescence flow cytometry, and ultrastructural immunocytochemistry, to measure expression of Ia antigens on cultured human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVE) cells. Under standard culture conditions, HUVE cells do not express Ia antigens. However, treatment of primary HUVE cultures with phytohemagglutinin induces the expression of Ia antigens. Every endothelial cell in the culture becomes Ia-positive and endothelial cells appear to synthesize Ia. HLA-A,B is concomitantly increased. The expression of Ia appears to be mediated by T cells because (a) pretreatment of primary HUVE cultures with OKT3 plus complement blocks the action of the lectins but not of medium conditioned by lectin-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells; (b) co-culture of endothelial cells with allogeneic T cells, in the absence of lectin, also induces endothelial Ia; and (c) human immune (gamma) interferon, produced by Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with the human gamma interferon gene, directly induces endothelial Ia. During co-culture with lymphocytes, about one-third of the endothelial cells are Ia-positive after 24 h and all of the endothelial cells are Ia-positive by 72 h. Proliferation of allogeneic T cells starts by 96 h and peaks at 144 h. Thus, endothelial Ia appears sufficiently early to be a determinant for the proliferation of allogeneic T cells. Inducible expression of Ia by endothelium may be important both for allograft rejection and for recruitment of circulating T cells into the site of an immune response.

Cells, Cultured↗

Factors influencing the expression of stress fibers in vascular endothelial cells in situ.

The organization of actin and myosin in vascular endothelial cells in situ was studied by immunofluorescence microscopy. Examination of perfusion-fixed, whole mounts of normal mouse and rat descending thoracic aorta revealed the presence of axially oriented stress fibers containing both actin and myosin within the endothelial cells. In both species, the proportion of cells containing stress fibers varied from region to region within the same vessel. Some endothelial cells in mouse mesenteric vein and in rat inferior vena cava also contained stress fibers. Quantitative studies of the proportion of endothelial cells containing stress fibers in the descending thoracic aorta of age-matched normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats revealed significant differences. When animals of the same sex of the two strains were compared, the proportion was approximately two times greater in the spontaneously hypertensive rats. The proportion of endothelial cells containing stress fibers was about two times greater in males than in females of both strains. These observations suggest that multiple factors, including anatomical, sex, and hemodynamic differences, influence the organization of the endothelial cell cytoskeleton in situ.

Actins↗

Characterization of the rabbit ventricular myocardial receptor for angiotensin II. Evidence for two sites of different affinities and specificities.

Angiotensin II binding sites in a rabbit ventricular myocardial particulate fraction were identified and characterized with the radioligand 125I-angiotensin II. The order of potency in competing with 125I-angiotensin II for these sites was similar to that observed in physiological studies. Computer-assisted analysis of the competition of binding sites for 0.3 nM 125I-angiotensin II by unlabeled angiotensin II (3 X 10(-11) M to 1 X 10(-5) M) demonstrated that optimal fitting of the competition curves was attained with a two-site model having one site of high affinity (KA1 = 2.4 +/- 0.6 X 10(9) M-1), low capacity (N1 = 7.8 +/- 0.8 fmoles/mg of protein) and a second site low affinity (KA2 = 9.6 +/- 0.6 X 10(6) M-1) and high capacity (N2 = 219 +/- 128 fmoles/mg of protein). Analysis of competition by Sar1-Ile8 angiotensin II for 125I-angiotensin II binding sites indicated that the antagonist interacted with the first site with high affinity (KA1 = 8 X 10(9) M-1), but interacted minimally with the second site (KA2 = 10(5) M-1). Monovalent cations (Na+, K+, Li+, NH4+) were roughly equipotent in decreasing 125I-angiotensin II binding by reducing the number of high-affinity sites (N1 = 2.6 +/- 0.7 fmoles/mg of protein with 100 mM Na+) without changing the affinity of either site or the number of low-affinity sites. The number of high-affinity sites was increased to 14.4 +/- 1.5 fmoles/mg of protein by 5 mM Mg2+. In the presence of divalent cations, nucleotides reduced binding of 125I-angiotensin II with the potency order guanosyl-5'-yl-imidodiphosphate greater than GTP greater than GDP greater than ATP greater than GMP. Guanosyl-5'yl-imidodiphosphate significantly reduced the affinity of the high-affinity site (KA1 = 1.0 +/- 0.2 X 10(9) M-1) and perhaps of the low-affinity site (KA2 = 1.0 +/- 2.2 X 10(6) M-1). Computer-assisted assessment of dissociation of 0.3 nM 125I-angiotensin II from rabbit myocardial membranes corroborated the equilibrium data: dissociation was biphasic (K-1 = 0.19 +/- 0.2 min-1 for a rapidly dissociating site, k-1 = 2.5 +/- 2.1 X 10(-3) min-1 for a slowly dissociating site); 5 mM Mg2+ did not significantly change either dissociation rate; but guanosyl-5'-yl-imidodiphosphate significantly increased dissociation rates from both sites. Despite the indirect evidence that these angiotensin II receptors interact with guanine nucleotide regulatory proteins, angiotensin II (10(-6) M) failed to influence adenylate cyclase activity. The physiological implications of the presence in ventricular myocardium of two distinct angiotensin II receptors and in particular the implications of a receptor-associated guanine nucleotide regulatory protein which does not couple to adenylate cyclase require further investigation.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗

Arachidonic acid metabolism and the adhesion of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes to cultured vascular endothelial cells.

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) adhere to the vascular endothelial lining in vivo and to the surfaces of cultured endothelial cells in vitro, but the mechanisms of these cellular interactions remain unclear. Arachidonic acid metabolites, both cyclooxygenase- and lipoxygenase-derived, have been shown to influence PMN locomotion, secretion, and adhesion to artificial surfaces. To determine whether such mediators also are involved in regulating PMN-endothelial cell interactions, we have examined the effects of prostacyclin and various inhibitors of arachidonic acid metabolism on the adherence of radiolabeled PMN to cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells. Confluent endothelial monolayers were incubated with washed suspensions of radiolabeled human PMN (which contained less than 1% platelet contamination) at 37 degrees C for 30 min, then subjected to a standardized wash procedure and the number of adherent leukocytes determined radiometrically. Under basal conditions, i.e., in the absence of exogenous activating stimuli, 4,163 +/- 545 PMN adhered per square millimeter of endothelial surface (mean +/- SEM, n = 12). This basal adhesion (which corresponds to approximately 4-5 leukocytes per endothelial cell) was unaffected when the leukocytes and endothelial monolayers were pretreated with cyclooxygenase inhibitors (100 microM aspirin or 1-5 microM indomethacin) or PGI2 (10(-9)-10(6) M). Thus, basal PMN-endothelial adhesion in this in vitro model system does not appear to be dependent on endogenous cyclooxygenase derivatives of arachidonate or to be sensitive to inhibition by exogenous prostacyclin. In contrast, leukocyte adhesion was significantly reduced by pretreatment with 5,8,11,14- or 4,7,10,13-eicosatetraynoic acid, 0.5-5 mM sodium salicylate, or 10-1,000 microM indomethacin, antiinflammatory agents that can interfere with the metabolism of arachidonic acid via non-cyclooxygenase-dependent mechanisms. These observations may be relevant to the interactions of circulating PMN with vascular endothelium under both physiologic and pathophysiologic conditions in vivo.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha↗

Stimulation of human monocyte/macrophage-derived growth factor (MDGF) production by plasma fibronectin.

Culture supernatants from human peripheral blood monocytes, isolated free of platelet contamination and cultured in the absence of serum, stimulate DNA synthesis and cell growth in Balb/c 3T3 fibroblasts and bovine aortic smooth-muscle cells. Monocytes cultured in serum-free medium for 24 hours with plasma fibronectin, added as either a surface-attached or soluble molecule, secrete significantly increased amounts of growth-promoting activity. Fibronectin also stimulates an increase in intracellular growth factor content and in protein synthesis by monocytes. Both the enhanced growth-promoting activity and protein synthesis are inhibited by cycloheximide. Thus, fibronectin-monocyte interactions may influence the production of growth-promoting activity by monocytes and contribute to fibroblast and smooth-muscle replication in wound healing, chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis.

Cell Adhesion↗

Expression of Ia-like antigens by human vascular endothelial cells is inducible in vitro: demonstration by monoclonal antibody binding and immunoprecipitation.

The expression of Ia-like antigens by cultured human endothelial cells has been investigated by means of monoclonal antibody binding to intact cells and by immunoprecipitation of radioiodinated membrane proteins. Primary growing and confluent cultures of human umbilical vein endothelium express little, if any, detectable Ia-like antigens under standard culture conditions. However, treatment of primary cultures with the lectin phytohemagglutinin induces the expression of Ia-like antigens. This action of the lectin uniformly affects all the endothelial cells in a culture, does not depend on cell division, and is associated with a cell shape change. The data presented in this report provide unequivocal serological and biochemical demonstration of Ia-like antigens on human vascular endothelial cells. The fact that the expression of Ia-like antigens by endothelium can be induced may have important implications for organ transplantation and for regulation of the immunological response.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Functional angiotensin II receptors in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells.

To study cellular mechanisms influencing vascular reactivity, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) were obtained by enzymatic dissociation of the rat mesenteric artery, a highly reactive, resistance-type blood vessel, and established in primary culture. Cellular binding sites for the vasoconstrictor hormone angiotensin II (AII) were identified and characterized using the radioligand 125I-angiotensin II. Freshly isolated VSMC, and VSMC maintained in primary culture for up to 3 wk, exhibited rapid, saturable, and specific 125I-AII binding similar to that seen with homogenates of the intact rat mesenteric artery. In 7-d primary cultures, Scatchard analysis indicated a single class of high-affinity binding sites with an equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) of 2.8 +/- 0.2 nM and a total binding capacity of 81.5 +/- 5.0 fmol/mg protein (equivalent to 4.5 x 10(4) sites per cell). Angiotensin analogues and antagonists inhibited 125I-AII binding to cultured VSMC in a potency series similar to that observed for the vascular AII receptor in vivo. Nanomolar concentrations of native AII elicited a rapid, reversible, contractile response, in a variable proportion of cells, that was inhibited by pretreatment with the competitive antagonist Sar1,Ile8-AII. Transmission electron microscopy showed an apparent loss of thick (12-18 nm Diam) myofilaments and increased synthetic activity, but these manifestations of phenotypic modulation were not correlated with loss of 125I-AII binding sites or hormonal responsiveness. Primary cultures of enzymatically dissociated rat mesenteric artery VSMC thus may provide a useful in vitro system to study cellular mechanisms involved in receptor activation-response coupling, receptor regulation, and the maintenance of differentiation in vascular smooth muscle.

Angiotensin II↗

Interactions of platelets and leukocytes with vascular endothelium: in vitro studies.

Our studies suggest that the interactions of blood cells with cultured endothelial monolayers mimic in vivo phenomena, thus providing potentially useful in vitro experimental models. For example, normal endothelial cells in culture show little tendency to react with platelets, similar to their behavior in vivo. Production of anti-aggregatory prostaglandins, such as prostacyclin, by cultured endothelial cells does not appear to be necessary for their non-thrombogenicity. Significant changes in platelet reactivity can be observed when endothelial cells are altered by certain stimuli. Analogous alterations in vivo might constitute a form of endothelial dysfunction relevant to thrombosis and atherosclerosis. In contrast to platelets, PMN leukocytes appear to show a preferential adherence to cultured endothelial monolayers. As our data indicate, this basal adhesion, which is observed in the absence of exogenous chemotactic agents or other stimuli, is neither dependent upon endogenous cyclooxygenase derivatives of arachidonate, nor inhibited by exogenous prostacyclin. However, certain anti-inflammatory drugs and other agents, that can interfere with the metabolism of arachidonate via lipoxygenase pathways, do significantly reduce basal PMN leukocyte-endothelial interactions. Further definition of the cellular and biochemical sites of action of these compounds may provide new insights into the mechanisms of the inflammatory response. Finally, given the vast repertoire of biologically active substances that platelets and leukocytes can secrete or generate, the regulation of blood cell interaction with endothelium may represent a key locus for pharmacological intervention in the treatment and prevention of vascular diseases.

Animals↗

Studies on the interaction between GP-18-0-deficient neutrophils and vascular endothelium.

A patient whose neutrophils lack the glycoprotein gp-180 shows an increased susceptibility to bacterial infections. Neutrophils from this patient migrate abnormally both in vivo and in vitro. To examine the basis for this abnormality in migration, a study was carried out on the interaction of gp-180-deficient neutrophils with artificial surfaces and with human endothelial cell cultures. Compared with normal neutrophils. gp-180-deficient neutrophils showed decreased adhesion to cold-insoluble globulin-coated plastic surfaces, and their ability to spread on this substratum was greatly impaired. In contrast, gp-180-deficient neutrophils interacted in a normal fashion with endothelial monolayers, attaching to their surfaces and migrating between cell junctions to spread between the monolayers and the subjacent plastic. A normal interaction with endothelium in vivo was implied by the finding that the rise in the neutrophil count in response to epinephrine, an index of the marginated pool, was normal in the gp-180-deficient patient. We conclude that the abnormal function of gp-180-deficient cells is unlikely to be caused by a faulty interaction with the vascular endothelium. We postulate instead that these cells migrate poorly in vivo because of an abnormal interaction with extravascular connective tissue matrix constituents.

Bacterial Infections↗

Platelet adhesion to cultured vascular endothelial cells. A quantitative monolayer adhesion assay.

We have developed a sensitive in vitro method for measuring the adherence of platelets to cultured vascular cells. Human platelets, in citrated plasma, were radiolabeled with [3H]adenine to achieve a specific activity 100 to 1000 times greater than that obtainable with chromium-51 or [14C]serotonin. After exposure of cultured cell monolayers to radiolabeled PRP, nonadherent platelets were removed by a standardized wash procedure, and the number of adherent platelets calculated from liquid scintillation measurements. Significant release of platelet-associated radioactivity was not detectable after challenge with standard aggregating agents, and uptake of plasma (unincorporated) [3H]adenine by cultured cells was minimized by the addition of unlabeled adenine during the adhesion assay. Scanning electron microscopy, performed in parallel, allowed visual discrimination between platelet adhesion and aggregation as well as morphologic examination of the interacting platelets and cells. After incubation with PRP for 30 min, primary cultures of umbilical vein HEC bound less than 0.05% of added platelets (less than 1 platelet per cell). In contrast, virally transformed HEC showed increased platelet adhesion that was directly proportional to cultured cell density. Visual counts of the number of adherent platelets in scanning electron micrographs showed good agreement with calculated radiometric data. Comparative studies indicated that suspensions of washed, radiolabeled human platelets also can be utilized in this monolayer adhesion assay. This in vitro model system should facilitate study of the mechanisms of thromboresistance of vascular endothelium and its pathophysiologic alterations.

Adenine↗