Passage dependent gene expression in normal human dermal fibroblasts

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) formed capillary structures when co-cultured with normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs). HUVEC competence and NHDF supportiveness of cord formation were found to be highly cell-passage dependent with the early passage cells forming more angiogenic cord structures. We thus profiled gene expression in NHDFs with different passages to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the in vitro angiogenesis control. Keywords: Time course NHDFs cultured to various passages were assayed for their gene expression using the GeneChip technology.