Endothelial Cells Phenotype on Extracellular Matrix Protein Bilayers under Dynamic Conditions
Jaroslav Chlupac Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i., Prague, Czech Republic; Centre for Experimental Cardiovascular Research, Prague, Czech Republic; Transplant Surgery Clinic, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic
Abstract:
Introduction: Cardiovascular surgery faces up some of the limits of synthetic bypass materials such as intimal hyperplasia and thrombus formation. Biohybrid vascular prostheses including cell therapy have demonstrated their feasibility both in experimental and clinical settings. The subject of tissue engineering deals among others with cell physiology on biomaterials.
Objectives: the aim of the study was to determine the phenotype of human endothelial cells seeded on planar extracellular matrix protein bilayers and exposed to laminar shear stress.
Methods:endothelial cells were cultured on the following substrates: collagen type I (Co), collagen/laminin (Co/LM) and collagen/fibronectin (CoFN). Blood flow was simulated for up to 120 min in a bioreactor and mRNA was extracted and analyzed by qRT-PCR.
Results: similar growth curves and flow-resistance of the endothelium were obtained on all three samples. Most of the adhesion genes were up-regulated and some of the metabolic genes were down-regulated with rather different profile depending on the bilayer substrate.
Conclusion: Adding LM or FN to type I collagen film resulted in better cell adhesion. The endothelial phenotype on Co/FN seemed to be somewhat more favourable compared to Co/LM in respect to atherosclerosis and thrombosis.
