The endothelial cell tube formation assay on basement membrane turns 20: state of the science and the art
- 28 April 2009
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Angiogenesis
- Vol. 12 (3), 267-274
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10456-009-9146-4
Abstract
It has been more than 20 years since it was first demonstrated that endothelial cells will rapidly form capillary-like structures in vitro when plated on top of a reconstituted basement membrane extracellular matrix (BME, Matrigel, EHS matrix, etc.). Subsequently, this morphological differentiation has been demonstrated with a variety of endothelial cells; with endothelial progenitor cells; and with transformed/immortalized endothelial cells. The differentiation process involves several steps in blood vessel formation, including cell adhesion, migration, alignment, protease secretion, and tubule formation. Because the formation of vessel structures is rapid and quantifiable, endothelial cell differentiation on basement membrane has found numerous applications in assays. Such differentiation has been used (1) to study angiogenic and antiangiogenic factors, (2) to define mechanisms and pathways involved in angiogenesis, and (3) to define endothelial cell populations. Further, the endothelial cell differentiation assay has been successfully used to study processes ranging from wound repair and reproduction to development and tumor growth. The assay is easy to perform and is the most widely used in vitro angiogenesis assay.Keywords
This publication has 32 references indexed in Scilit:
- The role of the matricellular protein SPARC in the dynamic interaction between the tumor and the hostCancer and Metastasis Reviews, 2008
- Establishment and characterization of Fabry disease endothelial cells with an extended lifespanMolecular Genetics and Metabolism, 2007
- Subtractive Transcriptomics: Establishing Polarity Drives In vitro Human Endothelial MorphogenesisCancer Research, 2006
- Functional Sites in the Laminin Alpha ChainsConnective Tissue Research, 2005
- HMEC-1: Establishment of an Immortalized Human Microvascular Endothelial Cell LineJournal of Investigative Dermatology, 1992
- Identification of multiple active growth factors in basement membrane matrigel suggests caution in interpretation of cellular activity related to extracellular matrix componentsExperimental Cell Research, 1992
- Protein kinase C regulates endothelial cell tube formation on basement membrane matrix, MatrigelExperimental Cell Research, 1992
- Two different laminin domains mediate the differentiation of human endothelial cells into capillary-like structures in vitroCell, 1989
- Role of laminin and basement membrane in the morphological differentiation of human endothelial cells into capillary-like structures.The Journal of cell biology, 1988
- Basement membrane complexes with biological activityBiochemistry, 1986