Endothelial dysfunction is a hallmark of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) but there are no established methods to study pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAECs) from living patients. We sought to culture PAECs from pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) balloons used during right-heart catheterisation (RHC) to characterise successful culture attempts and to describe PAEC behaviour. PAECs were grown in primary culture to confluence and endothelial cell phenotype was confirmed. Standard assays for apoptosis, migration and tube formation were performed between passages three to eight. We collected 49 PAC tips from 45 subjects with successful PAEC culture from 19 balloons (39%). There were no differences in subject demographic details or RHC procedural details in successful versus unsuccessful attempts. However, for subjects who met haemodynamic criteria for PAH, there was a higher but nonsignificant (p=0.10) proportion amongst successful attempts (10 out of 19, 53%) versus unsuccessful attempts (nine out of 30, 30%). A successful culture was more likely in subjects with a lower cardiac index (p=0.03) and higher pulmonary vascular resistance (p=0.04). PAECs from a subject with idiopathic PAH were apoptosis resistant compared to commercial PAECs (p=0.04) and had reduced migration compared to PAECs from a subject with portopulmonary hypertension with high cardiac output (p=0.01). PAECs from a subject with HIV-associated PAH formed fewer (p=0.01) and shorter (p=0.02) vessel networks compared to commercial PAECs. Sustained culture and characterisation of PAECs from RHC balloons is feasible, especially in PAH with high haemodynamic burden. This technique may provide insight into endothelial dysfunction during PAH pathogenesis. Pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAECs) from pulmonary artery catheter balloons used during routine right heart catheterisation can be cultured and sustained to study endothelial cell dysfunction at various stages of pulmonary hypertension http://bit.ly/2RL6dTc

中文翻译：

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从肺动脉导管球囊尖端培养肺动脉内皮细胞：用于肺血管疾病的注意事项

内皮功能障碍是肺动脉高压 (PAH) 的标志，但尚无研究活体患者肺动脉内皮细胞 (PAEC) 的既定方法。我们试图从右心导管插入术 (RHC) 期间使用的肺动脉导管 (PAC) 球囊中培养 PAEC，以表征成功的培养尝试并描述 PAEC 行为。PAECs 在原代培养物中生长至汇合，并确认内皮细胞表型。在第三代至第八代之间进行细胞凋亡、迁移和管形成的标准测定。我们从 19 个气球 (39%) 中成功培养 PAEC 的 45 名受试者收集了 49 条 PAC 提示。在成功与失败的尝试中，受试者人口统计细节或 RHC 程序细节没有差异。然而，对于符合 PAH 血液动力学标准的受试者，成功尝试（19 人中有 10 人，53%）与失败尝试（30 人中有 9 人，30%）的比例更高但不显着（p=0.10）。在心脏指数较低 (p=0.03) 和肺血管阻力较高 (p=0.04) 的受试者中，培养成功的可能性更大。与商业 PAECs 相比，来自特发性 PAH 受试者的 PAECs 具有抗凋亡性 (p=0.04)，并且与来自具有高心输出量的门脉性肺动脉高压受试者的 PAECs 相比迁移减少 (p=0.01)。与商业 PAEC 相比，来自 HIV 相关 PAH 受试者的 PAEC 形成的血管网络更少（p=0.01）和更短（p=0.02）。来自 RHC 球囊的 PAEC 的持续培养和表征是可行的，尤其是在具有高血流动力学负担的 PAH 中。该技术可以深入了解 PAH 发病过程中的内皮功能障碍。可以培养和维持常规右心导管插入术中使用的肺动脉导管球囊中的肺动脉内皮细胞 (PAEC)，以研究肺动脉高压各个阶段的内皮细胞功能障碍 http://bit.ly/2RL6dTc