Author(s) : Françoise Dignat-George, Dominique Arnoux,
José Sampol.
Summary : The endothelial contribution to vascular disorders has been widely documented in experimental models. However, its implication in human pathology is difficult to investigate, due to the paucity of non invasive methods and of specific endothelial markers. The enumeration of circulating endothelial cells (CEC) released in peripheral blood after vascular injury is a direct investigation of the endothelium. For this purpose, we have produced a monoclonal antibody (S-Endo1), which recognizes CD146, a molecule expressed on all types of human endothelial cells but absent from haemopoietic cells. Using this antibody, we have designed a specific and sensitive immunocapture test, which detects high numbers of CEC in thrombotic, infectious or immunological dissorders, while CEC have been found to be very rare (< 3/ml) in normal subjects. This quantitative approach of CEC might prove useful as a marker of vascular wall injury. Their enumeration is of interest in the clinical follow up of vascular disorders, in the evaluation of therapeutic effectiveness or in the direct diagnosis of infectious diseases involving intra-endothelial microbial agents. Furthermore, immunological and/or functional study of CEC could assess their procoagulant and proadhesive properties, as well as their viability, opening new perspectives for CEC investigation in vascular pathology.
Pictures
Figure 1. Représentation
schématique des altérations de l'endothélium.
Figure 2. Polymorphisme cytologique
des cellules endothéliales circulantes : chaque panel représente
des cellules endothéliales circulantes, isolées du sang périphérique
à l'aide de billes magnétiques couplées à l'anticorps
S-Endo 1, et colorées au May-Grünwald-Giemsa. (Grossissement
x 100).
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