Research
Eicosapentaenoic acid inhibits endothelial cell migration in vitro
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* Corresponding author: Gianfranco Bazzoni gianfranco.bazzoni@marionegri.it
Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research, Via La Masa 19, Milano, Italy
Journal of Angiogenesis Research 2010, 2:12 doi:10.1186/2040-2384-2-12
Published: 9 July 2010Abstract
Background
As n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids exert a beneficial action on the cardiovascular system, it is important to investigate their effects on endothelial cell responses that (like migration) contribute to repairing vascular lesions.
Methods
To this purpose, using functional and morphological in vitro assays, we have examined the effect of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on the migration of endothelial cells.
Results
We report here that incubation of endothelial cells with n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids impaired cell migration into a wound, triggered peripheral distribution of focal adhesions and caused partial disassembly of actin filaments. We also found that eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid exerted similar effects on the focal adhesions, but that eicosapentaenoic acid was sufficient for inhibiting cell migration.
Conclusions
Given the importance of endothelial cell migration in the repair of vascular injuries, these in vitro findings call for in vivo evaluation of vascular repair in response to different dietary ratios of eicosapentaenoic to docosahexaenoic acid.