Characterizations of human retinal microvascular endothelial cells at various ages / 中国病理生理杂志

ABSTRACT

AIM: To investigate the properties of human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (RMECs) at two different age groups. METHODS: Human RMECs with high affinity were isolated from donors at two age groups 30 d (group A) after birth and 40 - 60 years of age (group B). The RMECs were characterized for expression and localization of endothelial cell markers by immunofluorescence staining of CD31, yon Willebrand factor(vWF) and uptake of acetylated low - density lipoprotein. The ability of tube formation was assessed on Matrigel, and vWF distribution in- cells was ob-served by confocal immunofluorescence microscope and Western blotting analysis, respectively. RESULTS: High purity RMECs can be obtained readily from each group with modified methods. At 6 hours, cells from both groups formed tube structures successfully, but there was a significantly higher incidence of branching in RMECs of infant group (group A) by 27.2%±2.2% compared with adult group (group B) at 12 h (P<0.05). Group A maintained intact structure even at 30h, but group B partially lost the basic tube structure. In addition, vWF was translocated from cytoplasm to nucleus with aging. CONCLUSION: Human RMECs at different ages have specific properties. Cell properties related with age of the donors should be considered in in vitro studies.