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Updated: Jul 26, 2026

Assessment of Endothelial Cell Migration After Exposure to Toxic Chemicals
Published on: July 10, 2015
Methotrexate causes apoptosis in postmitotic endothelial cells.
C J Merkle1, I M Moore, B S Penton
1College of Nursing, Department of Physiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. cmerkle@nursing.arizona.edu
Methotrexate (MTX) chemotherapy can harm endothelial cells. This study found MTX induces apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in these cells, suggesting a mechanism for MTX-related toxicity.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Pharmacology
- Toxicology
Background:
- Methotrexate (MTX) is a vital chemotherapy drug for various cancers.
- Therapeutic MTX levels are linked to adverse effects, including neurotoxicity in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if MTX induces injury in endothelial cells.
- To utilize cultured bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells as a model system.
Main Methods:
- Exposure of endothelial cells to MTX concentrations (10^-9 to 10^-5 M).
- Assessment of cell morphology via light microscopy.
- Measurement of cell proliferation and viability using MTS assay.
- Detection of apoptosis using Annexin-V binding and DNA fragmentation assays.
Main Results:
- MTX exposure led to cell gaps and reduced cell numbers.
- A significant decrease in both growing and postmitotic endothelial cell numbers was observed.
- MTX induced apoptosis in endothelial cells, confirmed by Annexin-V and DNA fragmentation assays.
Conclusions:
- MTX causes injury to endothelial cells.
- Apoptosis is identified as a key mechanism underlying MTX-induced endothelial cell death.
- This study provides the first evidence of MTX-induced apoptosis in postmitotic endothelial cells.
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