Biological characteristics of primarily cultured microvascular endothelial cells in mouse myocardium

AIM：To investigate an effective and stable method to isolate myocardial microvascular endothelial cells (MMVECs) from the mouse heart and to observe their biological characteristics.METHODS：The cells from the mouse heart were isolated by collagenase II digestion followed by different speed adhesion. Then the cells were cultured on the dish coated with polylysine in endothelial cell-specific culture medium. The biological characteristics were observed by trypan blue staining. The cell growth curve and the cell proliferation were also evaluated by MTT assay at different passages. The expression of DiI-ac-LDL, FITC-UEA-1， specific markers of endothelial cells and the expression of CD31, vWF and CD34 were determined by immunofluoresence staining. To evaluate the function of the MMVECs, in vitro tube formation was evaluated under microscope.RESULTS：Two days after the enzyme digestion, the MMVECs formed small and isolated clusters. The MMVECs grew quickly in monolayer with the characteristics of endothelial cell shape at 4~5 d. The cells became confluent and cobblestone-like which were ready for passage at 7~8 d. After passage, the viability of the cells was more than 95%. The first and the third generation of the cells presented an S-shape growth curve. The cell proliferation of the first to the third generation was quick and slowed down after the fifth passage. MMVECs were highly positive for DiI-ac-LDL and FITC-UEA-1 ［(89.2±3.5)%］, indicating the cells were MMVECs. The other relative antigen expression (CD31, vWF and CD34) on the MMVECs was (56.7±3.7)%, (78.5±2.6)% and (67.8±4.2)%, respectively. The MMVECs formed the tubes in vitro after cultured for 6～12 h.CONCLUSION：We can obtain high-purity MMVECs using the combination of collagenase II digestion, the different speed adhesion process and the endothelial cell-specific culture medium for effective and reliable MMVECs isolation and culture.