Microvessel endothelial cells from human adipose tissues : isolation, identification, and culture

Human endothelial cells (EC) can be readily prepared from large vessels such as the aorta, and umbilical (1) and saphenous veins. ECs derived from these vessels have proven an abundant, convenient, and useful tool for the investigation of many aspects of endothelial biology. However, the majority of the body's endothelium (>95%) forms the microvasculature, and it is at the level of the blood/tissue interface that many of the phenomena occur that we wish to investigate. The high degree of functional diversity that the endothelium demonstrates between organs, and within the different vascular beds of a given organ, is manifest in considerable morphological, biochemical, and molecular differences (2-6). This apparent heterogeneity has highlighted the need for reliable methods for microvessel EC isolation and culture from a variety of tissues of different species in order to establish more realistic in vitro models.