Abstract:

Lymphangiogenesis is thought to be involved in the pathophysiological process such as tumors and inflammation. This research looked into the possibility of the transdifferentiation of mononuclearmacrophages into lymphatic endothelial cells in inflammatory conditions. MethodsFresh monocytes from peripheral blood were collected and cultured in ECM. The cells were next incubated in FNplated wells or treated with VEGFC, TNFα and LPS for 24 hours respectively. Expression of specific markers of lymphatic endothelial cells such as LYVE1, Podoplanin and Prox1, and the common markers of endothelial cells such as vWF and eNOS were detected by RTPCR and immunochemical methods. ResultsBefore the induction,  expression of LYVE1 was  positively detected  in cultured mononuclearmacrophages, while the expression of vWF, eNOS, Podoplanin, Prox1 was negatively detected. After the induction, the level of expression of Podoplanin and Prox1 obviously increased in cultured mononuclearmacrophages, yet expression of vWF and eNOS remained negative. ConclusionMononuclearmacrophages can be induced to express the markers of lymphatic endothelial cells by FN, VEGFC, TNFα and LPS.

Key words: Monocytes; Transdifferentiation; Lymphatic Endothelial Cells; In Vitro