Table 2.
Aluminum content of human endothelial and related brain cell types
| species | cell type | μg/g* | N** |
|---|---|---|---|
| human | hepatocyte | 1.1 +/− 0.8 | 5 |
| human | microglial (HMG) | 1.5 +/− 1.1 | 6 |
| rat | astroglial | 2.5 +/− 1.2 | 3 |
| human | astroglial (HAG) | 6.1 +/− 2 | 6 |
| human | endothelial (HUVEC) | 11 +/− 5 | 6 |
| rhesus | endothelial (RF-6A) | 9.2 +/− 3 | 6 |
| human | endothelial (hBMEC) | 36 +/− 8 | 6 |
| rat | brain, endothelial | 15 +/− 5 | 3 |
| human | neuron, cortical (HNG) | 58 +/− 12 | 6 |
| human | neuron, large pyramidal (HNG) | 104 +/− 18 | 6 |
μg/g* = mean +/− one standard deviation, micrograms of aluminum per gram whole cell plasma membrane (wet weight);
N** = number of individual samples analyzed; primary human brain microvessel endothelial cells (hBMEC; ACBRI 376, Cell Systems, Kirkland WA, USA), human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC; ATCC® PCS-100-100; ATCC Manassas VA, USA) and rhesus monkey retinal endothelial (RF/6A; Macaca mulatta; ATCC® CRL-1780, ATCC) cells were cultured according to manufacturer’s protocols and from previously published work [8,20,21].
The primary culture of human hepatocytes, human neuronal-glial (HNG) cells in co-culture (human neurons do not culture well without the presence of glia), human astroglial (HAG) cells, and human microglial (HMG) cells have been extensively described by our laboratory [16,20–22]; ultrapure reagents for molecular biology, including MgSO4 (63133) and Al2(SO4)3 (11044; Biochemika MicroSelect©; Fluka Ultraselect©; Fluka Chemical, Milwaukee, WI), freshly prepared as 0.1 M stock solutions [9,15,20], were instilled into either serum-containing or half serum strength respective cell maintenance medium by shaking, followed by filter sterilization using 0.2-μM spin filters (Millipore Corporation, Billerica, MA). All cell media solutions contained a final concentration of 2.0 uM MgSO4 or 2.0 uM of Al2(SO4)3. Details of control, magnesium- and aluminum-sulfate treatment of brain cells have been previously described [15,20]. Statistical procedures for aluminum and magnesium abundance were analyzed using a two-way factorial analysis of variance (p, ANOVA) using programs and procedures in the SAS language (Statistical Analysis Institute, Cary, NC) [13–16,19].
Only p-values less than 0.05 (ANOVA) were considered to be statistically significant. Figures and Tables were generated using Photoshop CS2 ver 9.0.2 (Adobe, San Jose, CA).