Isolation, cultivation, and partial characterization of microvascular endothelium derived from human lung

Primary cultures of peripheral lung lobes were grown in a highly supplemented medium. Human lung endothelial cells (HLE) were isolated from the mixed population by FACS. The cells proliferated rapidly and were serially cultivated for at least 16 passages. Both early and late passage cells were positive for the standard endothelial markers. Factor VIII related-antigen (Factor VIII R-Ag), angiotensin-converting enzyme, acetylated low-density lipoprotein labeled with 1,1'-dioctadecyl-1,3,3,3',3'-tetramethyl-indocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI-Ac-LDL) uptake, and bound the lectin Ulex europaeus agglutinin (UEA). Prostaglandin E2 was the major cyclooxygenase product of HLE, in contrast to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVE), which synthesized PGI2 in excess of PGE2. Factor VIII R-Ag exhibited a diffuse cytoplasmic as well as an extracellular fibrillar distribution in HLE, in contrast to a vesicular (Weibel-Palade body) cytoplasmic distribution in HUVE. The HUVE did demonstrate some extracellular fibrillar Factor VIII R-Ag as well. Urokinase was the predominant plasminogen activator (PA) secreted by HLE, whereas tissue PA was predominant in HUVE cultures. HLE formed tube-like structures within 2 h of plating on a Matrigel matrix whereas HUVE formed larger tube-like structures only after 1 or more days. The properties described here indicate that human lung microvessel endothelium can be isolated and continuously grown from small tissue segments and express a number of properties that differ from those of HUVE. These studies provide further support for the concept that endothelial cells from different sources can exhibit considerable heterogeneity relating to their phenotypic and biochemical properties.