Transcellular transport of fluorescein dextran through an arterial endothelial cell monolayer

Transcellular transport of fluorescein dextran (FD) of various molecular weights (4K, 10K, 20K, 70K and 150K daltons) through porcine arterial endothelial cells cultured on a type I collagen gel supported by a dacron sheet was studied and compared with the transport of low density lipoprotein labeled with rhodamine B (RB-LDL) described previously (Hashida et al., Cell Struct. Funct. 11, 31-42, 1986). The rate of FD transport through the monolayer depended on the size of the FD. FD transport was not temperature-dependent and was not a saturable process. Our findings show that FD transport differs from RB-LDL transport which is temperature- and dose-dependent. The mechanism of the transport of FD is compared with that of RB-LDL.