Inflammatory stress in primary venous and aortic endothelial cells of type 1 diabetic mice

Objective: The progression of diabetes is associated with profound endothelial dysfunction. We tested the hypothesis that cellular stress would be detectable in ECs retrieved from arterial and venous vessels of diabetic mice. Method: We describe a method for direct isolation of well-characterised aortic and venous ECs from mice in which cells are not subjected to propagation in culture. Results: Gene expression profiling, confirmed by real-time PCR, revealed a progressive increase in markers of injury within two main gene families, EC activation and EC apoptosis, in aortic and venous ECs recovered from diabetic versus non-diabetic mice. In short-term diabetes, IIIb mRNA transcripts were higher in aortic and venous ECs of diabetic mice versus controls. In long-term diabetes, casp-1 mRNA transcripts were higher in aortic and venous ECs of diabetic mice versus controls. Conclusion: These data suggest that diabetes imparts diffuse endothelial perturbation in the arterial and venous endothelium.