Signals causing change in morphological phenotype, growth mode, and gene expression of vascular endothelial cells.

Comparison of three different lines of bovine aortal endothelial cells provides a clear demonstration of reversible morphologic phenotype coincidental with change in expression and growth mode. These phenotypic forms can be externally controlled so that cells may exist either in an epithelioid contact-inhibitable state or as a fibroblastoid non-contact-inhibitable state. Clonal cell line N (normal) shows a strong tendency to maintain the epithelioid phenotype. Clonal cell line Sp (sprout) can readily and reversibly adopt the epithelioid or fibroblastoid phenotype. A factor in normal serum is responsible for maintaining the cells in the epithelioid phenotype. This factor could be a growth factor since several polypeptide growth factors are shown to drive cells from the fibroblastoid phenotype to the epithelioid phenotype within 11 hours. This growth factor-induced change is not mediated through induced DNA synthesis. Clonal cell line V (variant) normally maintains the fibroblastoid phenotype but can be directed to the epithelioid phenotype provided cells are on an appropriate collagenous matrix. Associated with these changes in morphological phenotype are depression of the expression of the pro alpha 2 chain of collagen type I which may be characteristic of the contact-inhibited state and of an 80,000 mol wt polypeptide synthesized only by cells in the fibroblastoid phenotype. An endothelial cell collagen EC1 (mol wt 177,000) was synthesized by all cell lines regardless of phenotype whereas a suspected breakdown product EC3 (mol wt 100,000) was found only in the epithelioid phenotype. Other differences and similarities between cell lines include expression of a 135,000 mol wt glycoprotein GP (V and N), the procollagen of collagen type III (N) of fibronectin (N, V, Sp), and of the pro alpha 1 chain of collagen type I (Sp, V). The characteristic expression of each line and its response to signals controlling morphologic phenotype impinges on the question of whether there exist several distinct types of vascular endothelial cells with different functional potentials controlled by extracellular signals.