Figure 6.

Effects of MyEND cell incubations with ACVD versus MMD serum EC barrier properties.MyEND cells were incubated in analogy to cENDs for 24 or 48 h. The effect of ACVD and MMD patients’ serum incubation on MyEND cell phenotype and cell–cell interactions was tested by Matrigel tube formation assay (a). Low magnification images (10 × magnification) of tube formation in response to ACVD and MMD serum are representative. Total number of tubes, branching points and tube length was assessed by Wimasis Image Analysis and depicted by the graph. MyEND cell proliferation was analyzed by MTT assay (b). EC barrier properties were proven by TER (c). Secretion of human Ang-2, VEGF and proMMP-9 protein into the supernatant was analyzed by ELISA (d). Gelatinolytic activity of MMP-9 evaluated in cell culture supernatants by gelatinase zymography (e). Values are means ± SEM (n = 3 independent experiments each including 5 different serum per group), one-way ANOVA (Holm–Sidak method) was used as statistical test.