Differential binding of insulin to human arterial and venous endothelial cells in primary culture

Hormonal control of inflammatory responses

Almost any stage of inflammatory and immunological responses is affected by hormone actions. This provides the basis for the suggestion that hormones act as modulators of the host reaction against trauma and infection. Specific hormone receptors are detected in the reactive structures in inflamed areas and binding of hormone molecules to such receptors results in the generation of signals that influence cell functions relevant for the development of inflammatory responses. Diversity of hormonal functions accounts for recognized pro- and anti-inflammatory effects exerted by these substances. Most hormone systems are capable of influencing inflammatory events. Insulin and glucocorticoids, however, exert direct regulatory effects at concentrations usually found in plasma. Insulin is endowed with facilitatory actions on vascular reactivity to inflammatory mediators and inflammatory cell functions. Increased concentrations of circulating glucocorticoids at the early stages of inflammation results in downregulation of inflammatory responses. Oestrogens markedly reduce the response to injury in a variety of experimental models. Glucagon and thyroid hormones exert indirect anti-inflammatory effects mediated by the activity of the adrenal cortex. Accordingly, inflammation is not only merely a local response, but a hormone-controlled process.

Insulin resistance and atherosclerosis

The epidemic of obesity in the developed world over the last two decades is driving a large increase in type 2 diabetes and consequentially setting the scene for an impending wave of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. It is only now being recognized that the major antecedent of type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance with its attendant syndrome, is the major underlying cause of the susceptibility to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In metabolic tissues, insulin signaling via the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase pathway leads to glucose uptake so that in insulin resistance a state of hyperglycemia occurs; other factors such as dyslipidemia and hypertension also arise. In cardiovascular tissues there are two pathways of insulin receptor signaling, one that is predominant in metabolic tissues (mediated by phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase) and another being a growth factor-like pathway (mediated by MAPK); the down-regulation of the former and continued activity of the latter pathway leads to atherosclerosis. This review addresses the metabolic consequences of the insulin resistance syndrome, its relationship with atherosclerosis, and the impact of insulin resistance on processes of atherosclerosis including insulin signaling in cells of the vasculature.

Insulin-like growth factor I receptors are more abundant than insulin receptors in human micro- and macrovascular endothelial cells

Micro- and macroangiopathy are major causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes. Our aim was to characterize IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) and insulin receptor (IR) in human micro- and macrovascular endothelial cells. Cultured human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC) and human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC) were used. Gene expression was measured by quantitative real-time RT-PCR and receptor protein by ligand-binding assay. Phosphorylation of IGF-IR beta-subunit was analyzed by immunoprecipitation and Western blot. Glucose metabolism and DNA synthesis was assessed using [(3)H]glucose and [(3)H]thymidine incorporation, respectively. We detected gene expression of IGF-IR and IR in HAEC and HMVEC. IGF-IR gene expression was severalfold higher than that of IR. The specific binding of (125)I-IGF-I was higher than that of (125)I-insulin in HAEC and HMVEC. Insulin and the new, long-acting insulin analog glargine interacted with the IGF-IR with thousand- and hundred-fold less potency than IGF-I itself. Phosphorylation of the IGF-IR beta-subunit was shown in HAEC for IGF-I (10(-8) M) and insulin (10(-6) M) and in HMVEC for IGF-I and glargine (10(-8) M, 10(-6) M). IGF-I 10(-7) M stimulated incorporation of [(3)H]thymidine into DNA, and 10(-9)-10(-7) M also the incorporation of [(3)H]glucose in HMVEC, whereas glargine and insulin had no significant effects at 10(-9)-10(-7) M. Human micro- and macrovascular endothelial cells express more IGF-IR than IR. IGF-I and high concentrations of glargine and insulin activates the IGF-IR. Glargine has a higher affinity than insulin for the IGF-IR but probably has no effect on DNA synthesis at concentrations reached in vivo.

Establishment of heterogeneity among blood vessels: hormone-influenced appearance of hepatic lipase in specific subsets of the ovarian microvasculature

We used biochemical and structural approaches to analyze the influence of gonadotropic hormones on the association of hepatic lipase with specific subsets of ovarian blood vessels. Western blotting was used to detect this enzyme in effluent collected from heparin-perfused ovaries of nonhormone-treated immature rats and those primed with pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin (PMSG) alone or in combination with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The effects of these hormones on hepatic lipase distribution among ovarian blood vessels was assessed before and after hCG and/or PMSG treatment by immunofluorescence and immunogold cytochemistry. For the latter, immunoreagents and fixative were delivered directly to chilled, unfixed ovaries by in situ vascular perfusion. Data from biochemical and structural analyses indicated that hepatic lipase was absent from nonhormone-treated ovaries. As shown by Western blotting of ovarian effluent, the enzyme appeared following treatment with PMSG and PMSG-hCG; it increased in amount in a time-dependent manner, with a transient decline in the early hours after hCG injection. Enzyme levels paralleled growth and vascularization of follicles and corpora lutea; the fall tended to coincide with early events in luteal angiogenesis. Immunogold microscopy showed that hepatic lipase was abundant in thin-walled blood vessels of theca interna of follicles, corpora lutea, and interstitial cells but sparse in those of the stroma. Moreover, during neovascularization of differentiating corpora lutea, vascular sprouts arising from hepatic lipase-laden thecal vessels appeared to lose, then regain, the enzyme as development progressed. Our findings thus suggest 1) that hormones influence the establishment of endothelial cell heterogeneity within the microvasculature of a single organ and 2) that development of novel endothelial cell properties in specific subsets of blood vessels underlies compartmentalization of function within a tissue.

Heterogeneity among ovarian blood vessels: endogenous hepatic lipase is concentrated in blood vessels of rat corpora lutea

We used indirect immunofluorescence and immunogold light microscopy to examine the distribution of hepatic lipase, an enzyme involved in lipoprotein metabolism, in ovaries of gonadotropin-treated immature rats. Antibodies utilized were rabbit anti-rat hepatic lipase IgG, anti-rat von Willebrand factor (VWF, an endothelial cell marker), and goat anti-rabbit IgG conjugated to gold particles or rhodamine. Immunoreagents were applied to fresh frozen sections of unfixed ovary or liver (positive control) or were delivered to ovaries by vascular perfusion before fixation in situ and silver-enhancement of sections. Appropriate controls verified that the immunolocalizations were specific. Immunofluorescence implied that luteal but not stromal blood vessels of ovaries were positive for hepatic lipase, whereas luteal and stromal blood vessels bore VWF. The improved morphology gained by perfusing ovaries with antibodies allowed precise localization of the enzyme. Hepatic lipase was concentrated within thin-walled vessels of corpora lutea but not those of stroma in ovaries at the time of peak steroidogenic activity. Quantification of hepatic lipase-labeled vessels in stromal and luteal compartments confirmed our visual impression. Many images suggested that stromal vessels lacking hepatic lipase gained this enzyme upon contact with luteal tissue. Perfusion of ovaries with cationized ferritin labeled all ovarian vessels equally well, ruling out the possibility that the observed distribution of hepatic lipase was artifactual. These findings demonstrate that ovarian blood vessels are heterogeneous for hepatic lipase. Moreover, they imply that luteal tissue, perhaps luteal cells, may influence expression of hepatic lipase binding sites by endothelial cells.

Macro- and microvascular endothelial cells in vitro: maintenance of biochemical heterogeneity despite loss of ultrastructural characteristics

Microvascular endothelial cells from bovine adrenal medulla and brain and macrovessel endothelial cells from bovine aorta were isolated and cultured under similar conditions in order to determine morphologic and biochemical heterogeneity in vitro. All three cell types exhibited nearly identical ultrastructural morphology and two-dimensional gel protein patterns of 35S-methionine-labeled whole cells. Two-dimensional gel analysis of 35S-methionine-labeled plasma membrane proteins however, revealed two-dimensional gel protein patterns unique to the tissue type from which the endothelial cells were isolated. This suggests that the functional significance of these specific endothelial cell types is manifested primarily in surface-associated proteins and that many of the differences are sustained in culture. To determine the potential of aorta, brain, and adrenal medulla endothelial cell (EC) cultures to respond to developmentally significant signals, morphology, growth pattern, and cell surface proteins were monitored in the presence and absence of growth factors. A 17 to 26% increase in cell density as well as an increase in the number of elongated and overlapping cells resulted when all three EC types were exposed to a mitogenic medium. Additionally, expression of specific glycoprotein profiles, as determined by Concanavalin A Western blotting of two-dimensional gels, was dependent on the presence or absence of growth factors in the medium. The ability to induce this morphologic and biochemical variation in the three endothelial cell types was maintained into later passage. Taken together, these data imply that endothelial cells isolated from different tissues exhibit and maintain biochemical heterogeneity and do not completely dedifferentiate into a common endothelial cell type in culture. Furthermore, expression of specific subsets of cell surface proteins is dependent on environmental conditions, and in some cases is both cell-type and media-type dependent. Thus, even though endothelial cells are considered terminally differentiated cells, there exists additional or "latent" heterogeneity in the ability of these different cells to respond to "developmental signals" (i.e. mitogenic medium) in vitro.

Receptors for insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I in the human adrenal gland

Human adrenal glands contain high-affinity receptors for insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). Comparative studies with rat, hamster and human adrenal membranes confirmed that IGF-I receptors are most abundant in rat and hamster adrenals, whereas insulin and IGF-I receptors are present in equivalent numbers in human adrenal glands. Covalent crosslinking studies revealed that the human adrenal gland IGF-I receptor binding subunit migrated on dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels with Mr = 135,000, which is identical to the migration of IGF-I receptor binding subunits isolated from other tissues. Autoradiography of frozen human adrenal slices incubated with [125I]insulin showed prominent, displaceable binding of this radioligand to the zona reticularis, zona glomerulosa, vasculature and medulla; in contrast, [125I]IGF-I binding to human adrenal tissue was most prominent in the zona reticularis and negligible in the medullary region.

Insulin, insulin-like growth factors, and vascular endothelium

Endothelial cells form the intimal lining of the entire vascular system. The vascular endothelium is continuously and directly bathed by components of the bloodstream and represents the initial fixed anatomical surface with which these components come in contact. In the past decade, the methodologies for studying endothelial cell functions have markedly advanced, enabling direct and detailed study of the vascular endothelium. From such studies, it is now apparent that the vascular endothelium represents an extraordinarily complex network of cells demonstrating a multitude of distinct anatomic, metabolic, and immunologic properties critical to such processes as angiogenesis, atherosclerosis, thrombosis, neoplasia, and a variety of metabolic disorders including homocystinuria and diabetes mellitus. This report will focus on the interactions of insulin and the insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) with vascular endothelium, based on studies with cultured endothelial cells, isolated microvessels, and perfused organ systems. Data will be presented relevant to the following concepts: (1) endothelial cells, in culture and in vivo, have specific receptors for insulin, IGF-I, and IGF-II; (2) insulin, IGF-I, and IGF-II have both distinct and overlapping functions in cultured endothelial cells; (3) cultured endothelial cells process receptor-bound insulin, IGF-I, and IGF-II, by distinct processes; (4) in vivo, capillary endothelial receptors are integrally involved in the transport of intact insulin to subendothelial sites of insulin action; and (5) vascular endothelium has specialized cellular features that are likely to contribute to the unique interactions of endothelial cells with insulin and the IGFs.

Regional cerebral blood flow and glucose utilization during hyperinsulinemia

Regional cerebral blood flow and glucose utilization were measured in awake-restrained rats during euglycemic hyperinsulinemia and were found to be normal. This indicates that elevated plasma insulin does not alter cerebral blood flow and cannot explain decreases in cerebral blood flow measured during acute hyperglycemia.

Functional heterogeneity of vascular endothelial cells

This review has highlighted some of the well-described differences in endothelial cells derived from different sites of the vascular tree. In presenting a select group of endothelial properties, there was no intention to imply that these are the only properties of endothelial cells that exhibit heterogeneity. Nonetheless, having described endothelial heterogeneity in regard to a number of defined properties, we are left with persistent questions including: Are these divergent properties of endothelial cells fixed? Alternatively, can we alter the properties of endothelial cells by affecting the signals from the environment? A number of reports strongly suggest that endothelial cells are capable of acquiring new properties. Stewart and Wiley investigated the role of the neural tissue environment on the differentiation of brain capillary endothelial cells. These authors transplanted ectopic sites, i.e. vascular segments of brain from very young quail embryos to chick coeliac cavity, and a quail somites to chick brain ventricles. The distinctive morphology of quail cells provided a cell marker to differentiate host from graft. The results of this study demonstrated that mesenteric or somatic vessels growing into grafted brain developed functional, structural and histochemical features specific for neural capillaries. Conversely, capillaries in mesodermal tissue that had been grafted to the brain were devoid of the neural capillary characteristics, indicating that brain vessels do not form a barrier when they are made to vascularize non-neural tissue. Milici and Carley reported that bovine adrenal capillary cells cultured on plastic exhibited occasional diaphragmed fenestrations and no transendothelial channels. However, if these same cells were cultured on a basement membrane (matrix) laid down by MDCK cells (a canine nephron epithelial cell line), the cells responded by increasing the number of diaphragmed fenestrations and transendothelial channels. This cell culture study supported an earlier whole animal study in which the importance of the epithelium and/or epithelial basal lamina in the maintenance of endothelial ultrastructure was demonstrated in a developmental study of rat intestinal capillaries. In this earlier study, it was noted that epithelial development coincided with the formation of fenestrations by the endothelium. Enzymatic activities of endothelial cells can also be altered by environmental signals. For example, primary cerebral microvascular endothelial cells exhibit barrier features and are enriched in gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity, yet rapidly lose the activity when subcultured.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Microvascular endothelium and pericytes: high yield, low passage cultures

Cultured microvascular endothelial cells (MEC) have become a valuable model for studies of microvascular physiology and pathology. Most current techniques involve manual removal of undesirable cell types or cloning, require one to several months, and yield high population doubling level cultures derived from a relatively small sample of the original population. We have devised a technique to more rapidly produce larger numbers of MEC. This method provided primary cultures consisting predominantly of MEC within 1 wk. The technique involves selective aspiration of gray matter from the bovine cerebral cortex followed by homogenization, sieving, enzymatic dissociation, and then dense plating (10(4) to 10(5) vessel fragments/cm2) onto gelatin- or fibronectin-coated plastic. Typical yields were 0.1 to 0.5 X 10(6) fragments/g of aspirated gray matter. The optimal culture medium for these cells was 15% equine plasma derived serum, 20% conditioned medium, 2% retinal extract, 60% fresh medium, and 500 micrograms/ml heparin. Cells attached within 24 h, well-spread colonies were present within 1 to 2 d, and cultures approached confluence within 2 to 3 d. Alkaline phosphatase staining confirmed the microvascular origin of the material plated. Morphology, Factor VIII-related antigen staining and 1,1'-dioctacecyl-3,3,3'3,-tetramethyl-indocarbocyanine perchlorate acetylated low density lipoprotein uptake suggested that MEC predominated. Cultures could be passaged and additionally purified by sequential exposure to pancreatin and trypsin-EDTA. Pancreatin selectively removed MEC colonies leaving a relatively homogeneous pericyte population. The relative ease with which such cultures can be produced should facilitate the in vitro study of brain microvascular function and may also provide insights useful for growing MEC from other vascular beds.

Insulin binding and vesicular ingestion in capillary endothelium

Capillary endothelium can actively regulate vascular permeability of various serum proteins. Hormones such as insulin must interact with this capillary barrier in order to reach their respective target tissues. We have studied the binding and subsequent internalization of 125I-insulin in both native (freshly isolated) and primary cultured capillary endothelium derived from rat epididymal fat pads. Insulin association with the endothelium, internalization and degradation differed between freshly isolated and primary cultured capillaries. Specific binding in freshly isolated and cultured capillaries was temperature dependent, and was competitively inhibited in the presence of unlabelled insulin. Primary cultures of capillaries grown to confluence did not exhibit specific binding of insulin. Despite the lack of specific receptors for insulin, cultured cells vesicularly internalized insulin. Greater than 50% of the total associated insulin was not degraded by cultured endothelium. Morphological examinations using ferritin labelled insulin localized insulin associated to the capillary endothelial cell membrane and sequestered within pinocytotic vesicles. Incubation of freshly isolated capillaries with insulin stimulated the fluid phase endocytosis of 14C-sucrose; however, insulin had no effect on fluid phase endocytosis in cultured capillaries. These results indicate that capillary endothelium, isolated from rat epididymal fat, exhibit specific receptors for insulin. Binding of insulin to the capillary membrane is followed by internalization into cytoplasmic vesicles and partial degradation.

Processing of cell-bound insulin by capillary and macrovascular endothelial cells in culture

The processing of cell-bound insulin was determined in endothelial cells cultured from three large blood vessels (human umbilical vein, bovine pulmonary artery, and bovine aorta) and one microvascular source (bovine fat capillaries). Cells were exposed to monoiodinated TyrA14-insulin, the rates of dissociation of cell-bound TyrA14-insulin determined, and cell alteration of insulin assessed by gel filtration and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. We found that 1) overall degradation rates of insulin are low for all cultured endothelial cells, 2) cell-bound insulin is rapidly processed to a nonreceptor compartment and then rapidly dissociated from all cells, primarily as biologically intact insulin, and 3) degradation of cell-bound insulin, although relatively low, does occur in endothelial cells with the least degradation by capillary cells. The presence of specific surface receptors for insulin on endothelial cells coupled with rapid cellular processing of intact insulin is consistent with a potential role for endothelial cells in either the transport of intact insulin out of the bloodstream or as a regional storage site for intact hormone.

Identification of the insulin receptor of cerebral microvessels

Cerebral microvessels are known to possess receptors for insulin and have recently been shown to respond to physiological levels of this hormone. Scatchard analysis of binding data obtained with isolated cerebral microvessels gave curvilinear plots and showed that neonatal porcine cerebral microvessels have a greater number of insulin receptors per unit of protein than adult bovine cerebral microvessels. The high-affinity form of the insulin receptors of both neonatal porcine and adult bovine cerebral microvessels have similar binding constants (dissociation constant = 0.3 X 10(-9) M). Dissociation of 125I-insulin from cerebral microvessels was accelerated by the presence of unlabeled insulin in preparations from both neonatal pigs and adult cows. 125I-insulin was covalently cross-linked to its receptor in cerebral microvessels with disuccinimidyl suberate, and the hormone-receptor complex was isolated on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Under reducing conditions, 125I-insulin was found associated with a polypeptide with a molecular weight of 130,000, which is indistinguishable from the alpha-subunit of the liver insulin receptor. In contrast, nonvascular cerebral cortical tissue contained an insulin receptor with an alpha-subunit that was lower in molecular weight than the form isolated from cerebral cortical microvessels.

Insulin receptors in rat brain cortex. Kinetic evidence for a receptor subtype in the central nervous system

Binding kinetics of porcine 125I-insulin were studied in synaptosomal and microsomal fractions of rat brain cortex. Receptor binding was temperature- and pH-dependent with optimum at 4 degrees C and pH 8.0-8.3. At 15 degrees C, steady state binding was heterogenous, and Scatchard analysis revealed two classes of receptors with Kd of 2 nmol/l and 40 nmol/l in amounts of 50 pmol/g and 200 pmol/g of membrane protein. Dissociation kinetics were biexponential with T1/2 of about 5 min and 180 min, and in contrast to other cell-types, not influenced by negative cooperativity. No receptor-mediated insulin degradation was detectable at 37 degrees C in the presence of bacitracin. Insulin analogues inhibited 125I-insulin binding with potencies relative to porcine insulin (%): human insulin 100, rat insulin (I + II) 71, coypu insulin 47, rat multiplication stimulating activity 8, porcine proinsulin 5, among which the three last values were significantly higher than in rat liver and fat cells. No competition was observed with porcine relaxin and mouse nerve growth factor up to about 1 mumol/l. Receptors were present in all regions of central nervous system with highest concentrations in the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and olfactory bulb, and lowest in the pons, medulla oblongata and spinal cord. In conclusion, insulin receptors in rat brain cortex are functionally different from other tissues regarding the insulin specificity and the absence of negative cooperativity. It is suggested that an insulin receptor subtype in rat brain mediates the growth activity of insulin on nerve cells.

Effects of membrane lipid unsaturation on the interactions of insulin and multiplication stimulating activity with endothelial cells

Modification of plasma membrane fatty acyl composition has resulted in major changes in insulin binding and insulin action in several cell types. In the present study, endothelial cells, which in vivo are directly bathed by the changing fatty acid and insulin environment of the bloodstream, were grown in media enriched in specific saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. These media conditions resulted in major and specific alteration in fatty acyl unsaturation of both neutral lipids and phospholipids of the endothelial cells. Despite the extensive fatty acyl changes, the lipid-modified cells demonstrated no change in the binding of insulin or the insulin-like growth factor, multiplication stimulating activity, and little alteration in insulin-induced down-regulation of the insulin receptor, or in cell processing of insulin. We suggest that the insulin receptor of the endothelial cell responds in a different manner than other cell types to similar alterations of membrane fatty acyl composition.

Low density lipoprotein metabolism by endothelial cells from human umbilical cord arteries and veins

Binding and metabolism of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and acetylated LDL were examined in endothelial cells from human umbilical cord arteries and veins. Both high and low affinity LDL interactions were observed. High affinity LDL binding and catabolism were increased five- to sevenfold after preincubation for 18 hours in LPDS containing medium. Subconfluent cells degraded, endocytosed, and bound 1.5 to 2.7 times more LDL by high affinity interaction than confluent cells, when endothelial cell growth supplement (ECGS) was present in the culture system. In the absence of ECGS, these ratios were somewhat less. Low affinity LDL metabolism was less affected by the state of confluency. Binding of LDL and acetylated LDL by venous endothelial cells was more than two- and threefold, respectively, than that by comparable arterial cells. However, the difference in LDL binding was not reflected in an altered LDL catabolism. There apparently is a population of low affinity binding sites not involved in LDL catabolism. LDL metabolism was identical in cells, which were cultured in medium supplemented with 20% to 100% serum or hirudin- or heparin-treated platelet-poor plasma. Without preincubation in LPDS, high affinity adsorptive endocytosis mediated the main part of LDL uptake only at low LDL concentrations (5 to 20 micrograms protein/ml). However, at physiological LDL concentrations (550 micrograms/ml), we estimated that this process mediated only 17% of the LDL uptake. We calculated that fluid endocytosis and low affinity adsorptive endocytosis of LDL accounted for the remaining 12% and 70%, respectively, of the LDL uptake at physiological LDL concentrations.

Cultivation of arterial endothelial cells from human umbilical cord

We have developed a simple method for the isolation of endothelial cells from human umbilical artery. The method provides a sufficient number of cells to be of experimental value. The presence of factor VIII antigen specific for endothelium has been demonstrated by immunofluorescence as well as by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase immune complex method.

Distribution of insulin receptors in liver cell suspensions using a minibead probe. Highest density is on endothelial cell

The distribution of insulin receptors was studied in rat liver cell suspensions using a latex minibead covalently bound to insulin. This probe can be visualized by electron microscopy (EM). Using this visual probe, the highest density of the receptor was found on endothelial cells in the cell suspension, with hepatocytes having only few receptors and Kupffer cells having none. Fractionation of liver cell suspensions on metrizamide gradients yielded two populations of cells; large cells (hepatocytes) and small cells which consisted mostly of Kupffer cells and endothelial cells, distinguishable by their surface and cytoplasmic features. Again, by the use of an insulin-minibead probe, the highest density of receptors was found on endothelial cells. It is suggested that the endothelium has a crucial role in the uptake and transport of the hormone across the tissue-blood barrier.

Insulin binding to microvascular endothelium of intact heart: a kinetic and morphometric analysis

We have studied insulin binding to blood vessels of the intact, beating heart. The beating hearts were perfused with [125I]iodoinsulin (3 X 10(-10) M) followed by perfusion with unlabeled insulin. The unlabeled insulin displaced the bound [125I]iodoinsulin in direct proportion to the concentration of the unlabeled hormone. Perfusion with unlabeled insulin at 10(-11) M elicited a significant displacement of [125I]iodoinsulin, with a maximal effect at 10(-6) M. Unlabeled proinsulin also displaced [125I]iodoinsulin in a dose-dependent manner, being 1% as potent as insulin. Perfusion with unrelated peptides had no effect. Radioautographic counting of 125I grains indicated that greater than 95% of the grain counts over blood vessels were within the microvessels. When [125I]iodoinsulin perfusion was followed by perfusion with unlabeled insulin at 10(-6) M, there was a 50% decrease in grain counts over the microvessels (versus perfusion with [125I]iodoinsulin alone); with coperfusion of [125I]iodoinsulin and 10(-6) M unlabeled insulin, an 80% decrease in grain counts occurred. Electron microscopic radioautography indicated that the 125I grains were associated with the vascular endothelial cells. We conclude that specific insulin receptors are present on endothelial cells of microvessels in the intact heart.

Fate of insulin in the retina: an autoradiographic study

A system for whole-blood perfusion of the bovine eye through the cilioretinal artery was developed and the distribution and binding of 125I-labelled insulin and human growth hormone (HGH) were studied autoradiographically. Sodium fluorescein was used as a tracer to monitor blood retinal barrier integrity, and electron microscopy was used to determine structural preservation after perfusion fixation. With this system, barrier integrity and structural perservation of both the neural retina and the retinal blood vessels were regularly obtained, with perfusion periods of as long as 5 hours. By quantitative light microscopy autoradiography, insulin binding sites were identified on the endothelial cells of retinal capillaries after perfusion with blood containing 125I-insulin. 125I-insulin binding was competitively inhibited by the addition of unlabelled insulin to the perfusing blood. By contrast the low level of binding of HGH to retinal capillaries was nonspecific. Electron microscopy autoradiography revealed 125I-insulin autoradiographic grains lying over the endothelial cell wall, over pinocytotic vesicles, and over the cytoplasm of both endothelial cells and pericytes. This suggests that, after binding to the cell surface, some insulin passes into the cell cytoplasm. However, neither 125I-HGH penetrated as far as the retina in the periods studied.

[New aspects of the blood flow-augmenting and insulin-like activity of muscle exercise: possible involvement of the kallikrein-kinin-prostaglandin system (author's transl)]

Adaptations of energy metabolism, as they occur during contractions of skeletal muscle besides by anaerobic glycolysis are achieved via changes in capillary blood flow providing substrates and oxygen for combustion. Since, initially, oxygen supply is restricted in the working muscle, glucose would seem to be the adequate fuel as it may be used anaerobically and yields more energy per mole of oxygen than fatty acids under such circumstances. Besides glucose, amino acids are also required for accelerated proteosynthesis according to the work load. Therefore, an enlargement of the capillary net has to be accompanied by an amplification of the action of insulin, which is often present in only small amounts, e.g., after an overnight fast. This aim is met in three ways: (1) enlargement of the capillary net with accelerated blood flow increasing the supply of insulin and the number of receptor sites for insulin binding; (2) accelerated transport of insulin through the capillary wall, providing more insulin in the interstitial space and at the plasma membranes; (3) a molecular mechanism directly involving the insulin-receptor-messenger complex, localized at the plasma membrane of the working muscle cell. These mechanisms resemble a self-regulatory process, set in motion by the release of metabolites from the working tissue. From recent studies there is accumulating evidence that kinins liberated from their precursors are involved as tissue hormones by carrying the signal across the interstitial space to the smooth muscle cells of the capillary vessels. Concomitantly, prostaglandins are released intracellularly to bring about, in cooperation with kinins, the various adaptive mechanisms. Amplifying systems of this kind may play a role not only in muscle but also in other tissues where adequate kinin or prostaglandin release would appear beneficial under several clinical conditions such as shock, coronary infarction, wound healing, etc.

Cyclic AMP: a potent inhibitor of DNA synthesis in cultured arterial endothelial and smooth muscle cells

The effect of dibutyryl cyclic AMP on DNA synthesis was studied in cultured human umbilical endothelial cells and rat aortic smooth muscle cells. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP (2 X 10(-4) mol/l) inhibited DNA synthesis in both arterial cell types when they were grown in medium supplemented with whole serum or with platelet poor serum, but had no effect in the absence of serum. An effect was seen one hour after the addition of the nucleotide, and the threshold concentration was between 2 X 10(-6) and 2 X 10(-5) mol/l. These results may have relevance to the interaction of platelets and insulin with the arterial wall in the development of atherosclerosis in diabetes.

Endothelial cells from umbilical vein and a hemangioendothelioma secrete basement membrane largely to the exclusion of interstitial procollagens

The biosynthesis of extracellular matrix proteins by primary cultures of endothelial cells from human umbilical vein, and by clones from a murine hemangioendothelioma, was studied and compared to that reported for endothelium cultured from other sources. Umbilical vein endothelial cells secreted two glycoproteins-fibronectin and thrombospondin-which comprise the major proportion of the protein in the culture media of bovine aortic, venous, and corneal endothelial cells. These biosynthetic products were absent from hemangioendothelioma cultures. However, in contrast to bovine endothelium from large vessels and cornea, which secrete primarily Type III procollagen into the culture medium, both the umbilical vein and hemangioendothelioma cultures secrete Type IV (basement membrane) procollagen. In addition, EC, a novel endothelial collagen type that has been characterized in bovine endothelial cell supernates, was not present in the umbilical vein or tumor-derived endothelium. The production of basement membrane procollagen as the major collagen type in the medium of these cultures probably reflects the nature of the vascular bed from which the endothelial cells originated, rather than differences in species of in cellular isolation and subculture. We suggest that endothelial cells from different vascular environments could display variations in growth, migration, morphology, and response to exogenous blood-borne factors as a result of their relationship to an extracellular matrix/subendothelium composed of diverse structural glycoproteins.