Expression data from co- and mono-cultured human brain microvascular endothelial cells and human brain vascular pericytes treated with and without estradiol

For the formation of the blood-brain barrier not only endothelial cells alone, but also their interaction with surrounding cell types, like pericytes, plays an important role, and co-culture of the two cell types increases barrier function in vitro. Furthermore, observed sex differences with regard to several cardiovascular as well as neurodegenerative disorders have led to the hypothesis that the female sex hormone estrogen might protect from endothelial barrier break-down. Microarray analysis was performed to determine the effect of co-culture on the gene expression profiles of pericytes and endothelial cells. Additionally, cells were treated with and without estradiol in order to determine possible effects of the sex hormone on the two cell types in mono- and co-cultures. We cultured human brain pericytes and the human brain microvascular endothelial cell line (hCMEC/D3) alone and together on the opposite sides of a porous transwell insert, allowing the formation of direct contacts between the two cell-types as well as the exchange of secreted factors between the apical and basolateral chamber. Cells were cultured for a total of 7 days, and the last 48h of culture estradiol treatment was added, before cells were lysed for RNA isolation.