In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology

, Volume 26, Issue 6, pp 612–620 | Cite as

Quantitative detection of blood-brain barrier-associated enzymes in cultured endothelial cells of procine brain microvessels

  • Hisashi Fukushima
  • Masafumi Fujimoto
  • Misao Ide
Regular Papers
Received:
Accepted:

Summary

The present study deals with a rapid and convenient assay for blood-brain barrier (BBB)-associated enzymes, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GTP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), in cultured endothelial cells and other cells. These enzyme activities in cultured cells could be efficiently measured by direct incubation of each substrate in the culture plates without pretreatment of the cells. This new direct in situ-in plate assay was more rapid and convenient than conventional ex-plate assays, and these assays gave similar values for specific enzyme activities. γ-GTP and ALP activities could be detected by this in situ method in primary-cultured endothelial cells of porcine brain microvessels, but their levels were lower than those before culture. The degree of loss due to culture differed, between γ-GTP and ALP; a relatively large amount of ALP remained but the γ-GTP level decreased greatly In this direct in situ-in plate assay, cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells exhibited negligibly small activities for both enzymes, whereas cultured astroglial cells of neonatal porcine brain showed moderate γ-GTP activity and a trace of ALP activity. This direct in situ-in plate assay can be used for microculture and automatic measurement and offers a convenient means for studying the possible regulatory mechanisms of the expression of the BBB-associated enzymes.

Key words

blood-brain barrier endothelial cells microvessels astroglia pig alkaline phosphatase γ-glutamyltranspeptidase 
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Copyright information

© Tissue Culture Association 1990

Authors and Affiliations

  • Hisashi Fukushima
    • 1
  • Masafumi Fujimoto
    • 1
  • Misao Ide
    • 1
  1. 1.Shionogi Research LaboratoriesShionogi & Co., Ltd.OsakaJapan

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