Cell type specific electrophoretic polypeptide profiles of cultured bovine cells

The polypeptide profiles of bovine vascular endothelial cells (from pulmonary artery and descending aorta), smooth muscle cells (from pulmonary artery) and fibroblast cells (from skin and lung) were examined by high-resolution two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic techniques. A set of polypeptides (molecular weights between 43 X 10(3) and 47 X 10(3) and pI values from 6.0-4.8, respectively) exhibited patterns that were unique to the three cell types. In the case of smooth muscle cells, these polypeptides exhibited cell-density-dependent expression. These results allow for identification of the three cell types on the basis of their highly specific polypeptide signatures.