The blood vessel wall responds to injury by proliferation of its cellular elements in the intima. This intimal proliferation is a common cause of failure in clinical vascular reconstruction, and may be partly mediated by local antoregulatory interactions between the cellular elements in the vascular wall. It is the overall objective of this project to define the nature of vascular cell interactions with special reference to the development of intimal hyperplasia. Using human endothelial and vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells in single cell coculture systems the mutual ability of these cells to modulate their respective proliferation, migration, and secretion will be investigated. Uptake of H3 thymidine and in vitro attachment and migration assays will be used in these studies. In a rat model of vascular grafting, the relationship of endothelial healing to VSM cell proliferation and intimal hyperplasia will be investigated using light and electron microscopy, planimetry, and thymidine autoradiography. Data from these studies will provide a basis for the development of specific intervention to prevent intimal hyperplasia, thereby improving the results of vascular reconstruction.
| Chung-Welch, N; Patton, W F; Shepro, D et al. (1997) Human omental microvascular endothelial and mesothelial cells: characterization of two distinct mesodermally derived epithelial cells. Microvasc Res 54:108-20 |
| Chung-Welch, N; Patton, W F; Shepro, D et al. (1997) Two-stage isolation procedure for obtaining homogenous populations of microvascular endothelial and mesothelial cells from human omentum. Microvasc Res 54:121-34 |
