Endothelial cells and normal circulating haemopoietic cells share a number of surface antigens.

Human endothelial cells, cultured from umbilical cord veins, have been evaluated for expression of a large number of cell surface antigens with known haemopoietic, particularly myeloid, cell distribution. This was achieved by evaluating endothelial reactivity (using non-fixed cells) with groups of monoclonal antibodies (MAB) belonging to distinct Clusters of Differentiation (CD), as defined by the Third International Workshop on Leukocyte Differentiation Antigens (ILWS). Results indicate that many antigens known to be present on haemopoietic cells, including those on platelets, are co-expressed on endothelial cells. The most intense degree of reactivity was seen using MAB to CD-9 and CD-13, although significant reactivity was also observed using MAB to CD-31 and CD-32. Data also suggests weak binding to endothelial cells of MAB belonging to CD-14, CD-15 and CD-16. A number of unclustered MAB reactive with haemopoietic antigens can also be shown to bind to endothelial cells.