Figure 9

Morphological effects of SMF and IL-6 on hEBD LVEC cells. (A) Phase contrast images showing the normal morphology of ~90% confluent hEBD LVEC cells. (B) Slightly altered morphology typically was seen after incubating the cells with 4.0 ng/ml of IL-6 for 3 days. (C) Cells incubated with 4.0 ng/ml IL-6 sporadically attained dramatically altered cell morphology, with neurite-like outgrowths. (D) SMF, by itself, had a minor impact on the morphology of hEBD LVEC cells. (E) The combination of SMF and 4.0 ng/ml IL-6 resulted in ~100% of the cells attaining the distinctively altered morphology shown. (F) mRNA levels of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), myelin basic protein (MBP), and IL-6 after 24 h of SMF exposure (error bars represent SD for n ≥ 3 independent experiments and p < 0.05 for each marker).