Figure 3

Proliferative characteristics of bone marrow-derived EPC. EPC and rPAEC were cultured in the presence of 20% FCS in EBM-2 without further supplements (Figure 3A) or in EBM-2 containing bFGF (Figure 3B). Figure 3A shows the differential growth capacities of EPC and mature rPAEC in the presence of EBM-2 supplemented with 20% FCS. Figure 3B shows the proliferative kinetics of EPC cultured in EBM-2 supplemented with 0.5% FCS towards increasing concentrations of bFGF (100 ng/ml to 100 μg/ml). Cells were seeded in 96-well plates, grown for 24 h in culture medium, washed twice with HEPES/EDTA and treated with bFGF in EBM-2 medium containing 0.5% FCS for 48 h as indicated. Cells were incubated with MTT solution, lysed and the absorbance was read. MTT activity is expressed as Optical Density and represents mean ± SEM of five independent experiments, ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05.