Isolation of endothelial cells from mouse lung

Abstract

The isolation of endothelial cells (ECs) from knockout and transgenic mouse lines provides the opportunity to study the endothelial-specific activities of a targeted molecule. As a means of pursuing these types of investigations, the protocols described in this unit provide a reliable method for isolating lung microvascular ECs from mouse neonatal pups that can be serially passaged. These protocols are useful in settings where mouse age is irrelevant and a pure population of pulmonary vascular ECs, uncontaminated by other cells, is needed. When a specific source of ECs is not required, these procedures also represent a reliable means of obtaining murine ECs in general.

Keywords: endothelial cells; lung cells; microvascular cells.