Abstract
Culture of foam cells isolated from rabbit atheromatous aorta by treatments with collagenase, elastase and hyaluronidase was achieved. The cells adhered to the glass culture dish and spread out. Under a polarized microscope, anisotropic cross images were clearly seen in the cells, suggesting that the anisotropic lipid inclusions (Lang & Insull, 1970(4) and Takano et al., 1982(9)) were not artifacts but existed in vivo. The characteristics of the cultured cells were examined by cinemicrophotography. Some cells were in contact with each other, whereas others were not. Endocytic vesicles were frequently observed in periplasmic areas, indicating that the cells possessed high endocytic activity.
