Differential effects of leukotrienes B4 and C4 on bovine aortic endothelial cell proliferation in vitro

The effect of leukotrienes derivated from arachidonic acid was studied on vascular endothelium proliferation. The peptido-leukotriene LTC4 (0.1 nM - 0.1 microM) promoted a dose-dependent growth of bovine aortic endothelial cells in culture with a maximal effect at 10 nM. This proliferative activity could be receptor-mediated since LTC4 specifically bound to endothelial cell membranes with a Kd value of 50 nM. The leukotriene B4 did not induce any significant proliferation in the same range of concentrations. This result was consistent with the lack of LTB4 specific binding sites. This data suggests that LTC4 could be one of the factors implicated in angiogenesis during inflammatory processes.