Modulation of morphological differentiation of human endothelial cells in culture by the synthetic peptide YIGSR and cytochalasin B.

Matrigel is a solubilized tissue basement membrane gel extracted from the mouse Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm sarcoma. Cultures of human endothelial cells could be induced to undergo extremely rapid morphological differentiation into capillary-like structures by Matrigel. The present study demonstrates the following: (a) Matrigel-induced tube formation by endothelial cells is laminin-dependent and, particularly, the YIGSR peptide site in the B1 chain of laminin may be necessary for endothelial cell differentiation resulting in capillary formation; (b) endothelial cells may be preprogrammed for rapid differentiation into blood vessels and do not require DNA, RNA or protein synthesis in order to undergo tube formation on Matrigel; and (c) microfilament assembly and function is important for Matrigel-induced tube formation.