Umbilical cord was shown to contain chondroitin sulfate B and a small amount of glucosamine-containing sulfated mucopolysaccharide, in addition to hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate C. All of the hyaluronic acid and part of the chondroitin sulfate C could be extracted directly with dilute sodium chloride; the rest of the chondroitin sulfate C and the chondroitin sulfate B were released onl...

Within the last 13 years hyaluronic acid has been isolated from a variety of sources (1): umbilical cord, vitreous humor, synovial fluid, tumors, and hemolytic streptococci. These mucopolysaccharides all have essentially the same chemical composition, equimolecular portions of acetylglucosamine and glucuronic acid, but vary greatly in viscosity. Hyaluronic acid was first isolated by Meyer and P...

OBJECTIVES The morphology of region umbilical vein, umbilical sinus and ductus venosus of human fetuses have been investigated. MATERIAL AND METHODS 26 human fetuses between 20 and 40 weeks' gestation were examined by morphological methods. The umbilical vein, DV and the portal vein were obtained after termination of gestation. Tissue samples have been fixed in phormaldehyde solution (pH 7,2)...

The kininogenase, tissue kallikrein (EC 3.4.21.8), has been identified in different blood vessels. The enzyme was mainly found in vascular smooth muscle cells. It is not known whether it is present and functionally active in vascular endothelial cells. The following study investigates the presence of tissue kallikrein in endothelial cells from human umbilical veins and pulmonary arteries. Tissu...

Immunohistochemical localization of factor VIII-related antigen was studied in human tissues obtained at autopsy or renal biopsy, umbilical cord vessels, smears of washed blood cells and cultured human endothelial cells. Factor VIII-related antigen was demonstrated in the vascular intima throughout the body and cells lining the sinusoids of the lymph node, spleen and liver by an indirect immuno...

The nervous system and the autonomic system in particular have been associated with stress-induced changes in host resistance to infections and inflammatory reactions. Since a key step in initiation of inflammation is adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelium, we hypothesized that neuron-derived factors might be involved in this process. Neuropeptide Y (NPY), a 36-amino acid neuropeptide that i...

Transcobalamin II (TC Ill is essential for cellular uptake of cobalamin. However, t h e origin of this t ransport protein is controversial and many organ sources have been suggested. We studied human umbilical vein endothelial cells cultured in vitro. The cells contained T C II (2.3 pmol/108 cells) and released progressively increasing amounts of t h e protein into t h e surrounding medium duri...

Substance P (SP), a neurotachykinin, is important in a number of inflammatory processes in which the endothelial cell also plays a critical role. SP receptors have previously been identified only on arterial endothelium, and the scant in vitro evidence for direct effects of SP on human endothelium is based on studies using nonarterial cells. To better understand SP's role in inflammation, we so...