Abstract:

Objective To observe in vitro culture and grow characteristics of rabbit artery  smooth muscle cells. Methods Digestive and adherent method was applied for the primary culture of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) deriving from rabbit thoracic aorta, and cells were passaged. The cultured cells were observed and identified by inverted microscopy and immunofluorescence method. Viability, growth ability, proliferation ability and migration ability of passage cells were determined by trypan blue exclusion method, growth curve, MTT assay and wound healing assay. Results VSMC of primary culture grew out of the edge of tissue pieces after incubation for 5 d. The passage cells maintained typical “hill” and “valley” pattern of growth observed by light microscope. Positive staining of α-actin in cell cytoplasm was revealed by immunofluorescence. Cell viability was 96%, the growth curve of VSMC resembled “S” in shape, the significant change of optical density was detected after culture for 3 to 5 d, and the scarification width value changed markedly in VSMC treated by serum starvation for 24 h. Conclusion The cultured rabbit artery smooth muscle cells are characterised by contractile phenotype and better viability, with higher proliferation activity after growth for 3 to 5 d and migration ability within 24 h after scarification, which may provide favourable experimental material for the research of cardiovascular diseases.

Key words: vascular smooth muscle cell, cell culture, growth characteristics, rabbit