ANTI-ANGIOGENIC ACTIVITY OF ARACHIDONIC-ACID METABOLISM INHIBITORS IN ANGIOGENESIS MODEL SYSTEMS INVOLVING HUMAN MICROVASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL-CELLS AND NEOVASCULARIZATION IN MICE

We have established an in vitro angiogenesis model using human omental microvascular endothelial (HOME) cells, in which epidermal growth factor (EGF) or transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) stimulated cell migration and tube formation. In this study, we examined whether alpha-guaiaconic acid (GR-12) and its synthetic 20 derivatives showed inhibition of cell migration and tubular formation of HOME cells. We found that GR-12 inhibits arachidonic acid metabolism, while GR-12 and one derivative, GS-01, inhibit tubular formation of endothelial cells in our model system. Confluent monolayers of HOME cells were damaged with a razor blade and incubated with or without TGF-alpha; HOME cell migration was stimulated about 1.5-fold over control values in the presence of TGF-alpha. Treatment of HOME cells with GR-12 or GS-01 inhibited both spontaneous and TGF-alpha-stimulated migration. GR-12 or GS-01 inhibited TGF-alpha-induced HOME-cell tube formation in type-1 collagen gels. We examined whether these compounds could modulate tubular formation of HOME cells induced by human cancer cells. Enhanced tube formation of HOME cells by co-cultured esophageal cancer cells was almost completely inhibited by co-administration of GR-12 or GS-01. Both compounds also inhibited formation of tubular networks of HOME cells on Matrigels. We also examined anti-angiogenic activity of these compounds in an in vivo model system of tumor angiogenesis in mice. In this system, GS-01 inhibited development of capillary networks at a rate comparable to that of a well-known anti-angiogenic compound, fumagillin, but GR-12 did not. The inhibitor of arachidonic acid metabolism is thus expected to modulate tumor angiogenesis. (C) 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.