1991 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Variant Endothelial cells of human aorta
| Project/Area Number |
02807041
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Experimental pathology
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| Research Institution | Saga Medical School |
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Principal Investigator |
TOKUNAGA Osamu Saga Medical School, Pathology Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (40113229)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SHIMOKAMA Tatsuro Saga Medical School, Pathology Research associate, 医学部, 助手 (50170999)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1990 – 1991
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| Keywords | Vascular endothelium / Variant endothelium / Prostacyclin / Atherosclerosis / Endotheli |
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| Research Abstract |
1) Endothelial cells in primary culture were morphologically classified into two types : typical endothelium and variant endothelium. Typical endothelial cells were small, round to polygonal, and arranged uniformly. Variant endothelial cells were larger, ranging from 100 to 200 um, and sometimes more than 250 um in diameter with multinuclei. The ratio of variant endothelial cells to typical cells correlated well with the severity of atherosclerosis than with aging and it was confirmed in experimental atherosclerotic rabbits. Variant endothelial cells can be formed by denatured LDL, interleukin-4 and oxyradicals in vitro.
2) To investigate the functional alteration of human aortic endothelial cells with aging, prostacyclin synthesis was qualitatively and quantitatively examined, and also immunohistochemically examined. endothelial cells, the young group synthesized the largest amount of prostacyclin in a conventional culture condition, with synthesis progressively decreasing in the older groups. Immunohistologically, endothelial cells in young aortas revealed intensely positive for prostacyclin, but the intensity of aortic endothelial cells from older subjects was low. Smooth muscle cells in the thickened intima of the aorta were weakly immunoreactive. The decreased synthesis of prostacyclin with age may play an important role in the development and advancement of thrombosis and atherosclerosis.
3) Interaction between endothelial cells and inflammatory cells or monocytes/macrophages is currently underinvestigation.
4) Although not directly related to this project, we developed a method of enzyme-linked immunohistochemistry for detection of "endothelin" useful on formalin-fixed and paraffin embedded sections.
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