The endothelial glycocalyx is believed to play a major role in capillary permeability by functioning as a macromolecular barrier overlying the intercellular junction. Little is known about the functional attributes of the glycocalyx (i.e., porosity and permeability) or which constituents contribute to its overall structure-function relationship. In this report, we demonstrate the utility of flu...

AIMS Vascular endothelial (VE) cadherin is a cell adhesion molecule localized at endothelial cell (EC) junctions. As a major component of endothelial adherens junctions, its main function is the maintenance and regulation of EC integrity. In the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), increased vascular permeability is a major mechanism in pulmonary edema and lung dysfunction. In this study...

The underlying mechanisms of lung endothelial injury after intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury are not fully known. Here we investigated the effects of posttreatment with a neutrophil elastase inhibitor (NEI; ONO-5046) on lung injury after intestinal I/R injury in a rat model. Intestinal I/R was produced by 90 min of ischemia followed by either 60 or 240 min of reperfusion. For all exp...

The monolayer of endothelial cells lining the vessel wall forms a semipermeable barrier (in all tissue except the relatively impermeable blood-brain and inner retinal barriers) that regulates tissue-fluid homeostasis, transport of nutrients, and migration of blood cells across the barrier. Permeability of the endothelial barrier is primarily regulated by a protein complex called adherens juncti...

A variety of vasoactive stimuli induce endothelial permeability through Rac1, a membrane of Rho small GTPases. Here, we determine whether tumor-secreted vasoactive stimulant through Rac1 inducing permeability contributes to hematogenous metastasis. Activation of Rac1 was assayed in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), transendothelial passages were measured by Transwell chambers, and...

Propose: Standard electroporation and electrochemotherapy caused the endothe- lial cell permeability and reduction in tumor blood flow. The effects of low voltage and high frequency electroporation on the endothelial cells permeability and viability were expected. Therefore, the propose of present study was to evaluate the effect of electroporation with bleomycin or alone on viability and perme...

In vivo models of airway inflammation suggest that most protein transudation occurs from bronchial microcirculation. However, due to technical limitations in the isolation and culture of bronchial endothelial cells, most studies of lung vascular permeability have focused on pulmonary endothelium. Thus conditions for culture of sheep bronchial artery endothelial cells (BAEC) and bronchial microv...

Integrity of endothelial barrier is a determinant of the prognosis in the acute lung injury caused by sepsis. The epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), metabolites of arachidonic acid, exhibit protective effects in various pathogenic states, however, whether EETs play a role in endothelial barrier enhancement and the involved mechanisms remain to be investigated. Here, we show that increased EETs l...