Culturing endothelial cells of microvascular origin.

There is considerable divergence of opinion on the best methods for the isolation and in vitro culture of microvascular endothelium. Reports have either only described the isolation without mentioning culture conditions or have not fully defined the cell population being cultured. Even at the close of the 20th Century, the isolation and in vitro culture of endothelial cells of microvasculature origin still proves to be technically difficult and many questions remain. These questions need to be addressed by improvements to current methods of isolation and culture of Endothelial cells. A number of more 'high-tech' approaches to this isolation are being explored currently. Use of a more definitive panel of antibodies for immunocytochemical characterization, should enable a more confident characterization of the endothelial cell preparations cultured in vitro. Cell adhesion molecules such as ELAM and VCAM can be used to assist in determining cell population purity.