Critical evaluation of ECV304 as a human endothelial cell model defined by genetic analysis and functional responses:...

Early reports indicated that ECV304 was a spontaneously-transformed line derived from a Japanese human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) culture. Many morphological, immunochemical, and genetic studies provided further evidence that ECV304 was a valuable biomedical research tool and could be used to study processes that include angiogenesis in vitro and signal transduction by a variety of G protein-coupled receptors. However, several distinct differences between ECV304 and HUVEC are now apparent and recent reports have indicated genetic similarity between ECV304 and T24/83, a human bladder cancer cell line. To further assess the utility of ECV304 as a human endothelial cell model, we compared the functional responses of ECV304 and T24/83 to a range of G protein-coupled receptor agonists. We also used DNA fingerprinting to karyotype both ECV304 and T24/83. Both ATP and uridine triphosphate (UTP) stimulated inositol phosphate metabolism in ECV304 without alteration of cAMP levels. Comparative data using selective P2Y receptor agonists indicated that this response, leading to calcium mobilization from intracellular stores, was predominantly mediated by the activation of P2Y2 receptors. Similar responses were recorded from both ECV304 and T24/83 cells. ECV304 expressed a relatively high basal activity of NOS that was reduced by L-NAME and stimulated by P2Y2 receptor agonists. In contrast, P2Y2 receptor activation did not induce prostaglandin synthesis in ECV304. Both ECV304 and T24/83 express receptors for adenosine, adrenaline, and calcitonin, which stimulate adenylate cyclase. Proliferation of ECV304 and T24/83 cells, measured by the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA, was largely serum-independent. This was in contrast to parallel experiments with porcine and bovine aortic endothelial cells that indicated a marked serum-dependent increase in DNA synthesis. Genetic analysis confirmed that ECV304 and T24/83 are identical. ECV304 displays some endothelial characteristics and is useful for the study of receptor pharmacology. However, ECV304 is not of HUVEC origin and is therefore an inappropriate cell line to study endothelial cell biology.