Cardiac Endothelial

The mouse cardiac endothelial cell (MCEC) line was prepared from microvascular neonatal mouse cardiac endothelial cells by transfection with lentiviral vectors carrying SV40 T antigen and human telomerase. This cell line grows indefinitely, exhibits contact inhibition, displays normal endothelial characteristics and cellular markers, and possesses tight intercellular junctions.

The MCEC line is unusually receptive to both transient and stable transfection and thus provides an excellent in vitro model for evaluation of effects on endothelial physiology of specific genetic additions or deletions. It is very unusual for endothelial cells to grow indefinitely while maintaining stable, normal endothelial characteristics, and furthermore, to be easily transfectable at high efficiency with simple transfection techniques.

The MCEC line is ideal for studies of endothelial cell physiology, drug development, investigation of mechanisms of endothelial injury and protection therefrom, studies of vascular permeability, toxicity, cell-cell interactions, inflammation, wound healing, cancer therapy, and angiogenesis.

Supplementary Figures

Phenotypic characterization of MCEC. (A) MCEC monolayers on gelatin-coated plates. (B) Microtube formation in matrigel MCECs ƒnwere positive for (C) SV40-T (green) and h-TERT (red) nuclear and cytoplasmic staining, respectively, (D) platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1), (E) VE-cadherin staining at intercellular junctions, (F) von Willebrand factor-associated antigen (red) in cytoplasm and ß-catenin (green) at intercellular junctions, (G) intense cytoplasmic staining after incubation with 1,1"-dioctadecyl-3,3,3",3;-tetramethyl-indocarbocyanine perchlorate-labeled low-density lipoprotein (Dil-Ac-LDL).

References for the MCEC Cell line

• Barbieri S, Weksler B. (2007) Tobacco smoke cooperates with interleukin-1beta to alter beta-catenin trafficking in vascular endothelium resulting in increased permeability and induction of cyclooxygenase-2 expression in vitro and in vivo. FASEB J. 21(8):1831-43.
• Barbieri SS, et al (2008). Suppressing PTEN activity by tobacco smoke plus interleukin-1beta modulates dissociation of VE-cadherin/beta-catenin complexes in endothelium. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 28(4):732-8.
• He KL et al (2008) Endothelial cell annexin A2 regulates polyubiquitination and degradation of its binding partner S100A10/p11. J Biol Chem. 283(28):19192-200.