Distribution of anionic sites on the capillary endothelium in an experimental brain tumor model

The distribution of anionic domains on the capillary endothelium of experimental brain tumors was determined using cationic ferritin (CF) in order to ascertain whether the pattern of these domains is different from that on normal cerebral capillaries. Tumors were induced by stereotaxic injection of cultured neoplastic glial cells, A15A5, into the caudate nucleus of Sprague-Dawley rats. Following a 14-21 day growth period tumors appeared as vascularized, sharply circumscribed masses which caused compression of the surrounding brain tissue. Anionic domains were distributed in a patchy and irregular pattern on the luminal plasma membrane of the endothelia of blood vessels in the tumors. Some variability in this pattern was observed infrequently in limited regions of the tumor where there was either a continuous layer of CF or an absence of CF binding. Plasmalemmal vesicles, coated vesicles, coated pits, multivesicular bodies, and some junctional complexes showed varying degrees of labeling with the probe. Capillaries in the tumor periphery and normal cerebral vessels showed a uniform distribution of anionic groups. These results indicate that there is an altered surface charge on the endothelial luminal plasma membrane of blood vessels in brain tumors. A correlation may exist between the altered surface charge and the degree to which the blood-brain barrier is impaired in these vessels.