抄録
We examined cultured human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVE) cells for cell growth, cell density, occurrence of multinucleated cells, prostacyclin (PGI2) production and cell surface negative charge during senescence in vitro. Changes in these properties are consistent with changes previously reported for vascular endothelial cells during senescence in vivo. Therefore, we conclude that this system in vitro is a model suitable for studies of senescence in vivo of endothelial cells.
We examined previous findings that the replicative life-span of HUVE cells is extended by an addition of heparin or an interleukin-1α antisense oligomer. We failed in confirmation of these extensions, reproducibly. However, we found out that an addition of epidermal growth factor (EGF) extends the replicative life-span. On the other hand, the addition of EGF does not suppress the decrease in PGI2 production of the cells during senescence in vitro (PGI2 production is one of the main functions specific for endothelial cells). This indicates that the process of senescence in vitro of the ability for cell proliferation is not necessarily correlated to that for PGI2 production. For studies of cellular senescence, we must take account of not only the proliferation but also the specific functions.
