Gap junctional communication in primary culture of cells derived from human aortic intima

Intercellular communication via gap junctions plays an important role in the regulation and homeostasis. The presence of gap junctions and the efficiency of their function directly correlates with the degree of cell differentiation in a tissue. In the present study, gap junctional communication has been investigated in a primary culture of highly differentiated mesenchymal cells (subendothelial smooth muscle cells isolated from grossly normal and atherosclerotic areas of human aorta) and in poorly differentiated cells of mesenchymal origin (adult human skin fibroblasts as well as skin fibroblasts and aortic smooth muscle cells, derived from human fetus). The fluorescent dye transfer technique was used in this study. In cell cultures isolated from grossly normal and atherosclerotic aorta, the number of cells coupled via gap junctions increased with cell density and reached a plateau at a cell density of 50 to 70 cells/mm 2. In cultures of normal aortic cells the number of coupled cells was 23.0±4.1 per injected cell and was significantly higher than in cultures of atherosclerotic cells (16.4±2.1, p