Detection of minimal but significant amount of von Willebrand factor in human omentum mesothelial cell cultures

The presence of von Willebrand factor (vWF) in human mesothelial cells is a controversial issue. The aim of this paper was to investigate of vWF in human mesothelial cell cultures by means of multiple techniques and to compare the amount of vWF to that in endothelial cell cultures. Morphological evidence that vWF is present in the cell cytoplasm in human omentum mesothelial cells (HOMC) has been obtained by vWF staining by means of anti-vWF antibodies and immunofluorescence. The vWF concentration value (measured by ELISA) was 0.02 ng/mL in the supernatant of HOMC (160,000 ng/mL cells/mL after 12-48 hours) and between 0.08-0.12 ng/mL in the supernatant of endothelial cell cultures (160,000 cells/mL). Ethidium-bromide staining of PCR products recorded the typical vWF signal both in the endothelial and in the mesothelial cell cultures, although it was noticeably more intense in the endothelial cell culture. These data show that minimal but significant amounts of vWF are present in human mesothelial cell cultures.