Abstract
We have previously reported the stimulatory effect of leukotriene C4 (LTC4) and inhibitory one of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) on in vitro tube formation of endothelial cells. In this paper, we examined the precise mechanisms of the effects of both substances on tube formation.
When bovine endothelial cells were cultured between collagen gels, the cells were proliferated and formed a tube for two days. As our previous report showed EPA (5, μg/ml) -pretreatment caused a significant suppression of tube formation, the cell growth was examined in the collagen gel after EPA-pretreatment. The growth of endothelial cell pretreated with EPA was significantly inhibited. On the other hand, although the tube formation was stimulated by LTC4, but not by LTD4, the cell growth was not affected by LTC4. However, the migration was stimulated by LTC4. By the checker board analysis, LTC4 stimulated chemokinesis slightly and chemotaxis significantly.
Finally, we examined the effect of LTC4 on tube formation of EPA-pretreated endothelial cells. In EPA-enriched cells LTC4 failed to stimulate the tube formation.
These data strongly suggested that EPA could be one of the inhibitors of inflammatory angiogenesis.
