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Fig. 2. Morphological changes induced by elastin-derived peptides. (A) Confocal microscopy analysis of actin filaments stained with tetra methyl rhodamine isothiocyanate-labeled phalloidin from HUVECs and HMECs cultured on matrigel for 24 hours in the absence (control) or presence of KE (50 µg/ml) or presence of VEGF (20 ng/ml). (B) Scanning electron micrographs of HUVECs cultured for 14 hours on matrigel in the absence (a and c) or presence (b and d) of 50 µg/ml KE. Samples were fixed, dehydrated and desiccated as described in the methods section. KE induces a dense honeycomb network (arrowheads in a and b) where several cell-cell interactions with close contacts are frequently observed (arrows in d), whereas it is sparse in the control with a number of rounded cells (arrow in c). (C) Quantitative evaluation of the cell form factor after 4 and 14 hours' incubation of HUVECs in the absence or presence of KE was performed by computerized image analysis. Cell form factor was calculated according to the formula 4S/P² where S is the surface of cell and P its perimeter. Results represent the mean±s.d. obtained from 60 cells. ^**P<0.01; ^***P<0.001 when compared to levels in the relevant controls.

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