Dysfunction of microvascular endothelial cells induced by tumor necrosis factor (TNFalpha): cellular and molecular mechanism.

The dysfunction of rat pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (RPMVEC) induced by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) was investigated in cell culture. The TNFalpha concentrations added into culture were 1000-5000 u/ml. The study was done at different steps as follows: (1) cell proliferation dynamic, (2) coagulation and anti-coagulation, (3) adhesive molecule, (4) nitric oxide (NO), (5) oncogens, and (6) apoptosis. It was concluded that attention should be paid to the metabolic disorder and dysfunction of RPMVEC induced by TNFalpha which can not be found easily according to the morphological changes. This might be the common pathway in the pathogenesis of some diseases related to TNFalpha.