Isolation and culture of pulmonary endothelial cells

Methods for isolation, identification and culture of pulmonary endothelial cells are now routine. In the past, methods of isolation have used proteolytic enzymes to detach cells; thereafter, traditional methods for cell passaging have used trypsin/EDTA mixtures. Cells isolated and passaged using proteolytic enzymes have been useful in establishing the field and in verifying certain endothelial properties. However, there is a growing awareness of the role of endothelial cells in processing vasoactive substances, in responding to hormones and other agonists and in cell-cell interactions with other cell types of the vascular wall, with blood cells and with cellular products. Consequently, a new requirement has arisen for cells in vitro that maintain the differentiated properties of their counterparts in vivo. The deleterious effects of trypsin and other proteolytic enzymes commonly used in cell culture on surface structures of endothelial cells such as enzymes, receptors and junctional proteins, as well as on extracellular layers such as the glycocalyx or "endothelial fuzz," have led to the development of methods that avoid use of proteolytic enzymes at both the isolation step and during subsequent subculture. This chapter describes traditional methods for isolating pulmonary endothelial cells but emphasizes newer approaches using mechanical harvest and scale-up using microcarriers. The new methods allow maintenance of long-term, large-scale cultures of cells that retain the full complement of surface properties and that maintain the cobblestone monolayer morphology and differentiated functional properties. Methods for identification of isolated cells are therefore also considered as methods for validation of cultures during their in vitro lifespan.