Expression of ACE and morphology of human monocytes overexpressing ACE.

<p>(A, B, C) Human primary monocytes were transiently transfected with empty or pcDNA3.1(-) plasmid carrying full coding sequence of ACE. Investigations of (A) ACE-expression, (B) cell morphology and (C) MCSF-expression were performed 24 h after transfection. Note differentiated, macrophage-like phenotype of primary monocytes overexpressing ACE. (D, E, F, G, H) Wild type (THP-1 WT), empty plasmid (Control) and ACE-overexpressing cells (ACE1, ACE2, ACE3) were investigated for (D) ACE transcript or (E) protein levels by employment of specific TaqMan probes or FACS analysis. (F) Representative immunofluorescence of control and ACE1 cells stained with FITC-ACE antibody (green) and DAPI staining (blue, nuclear). Note that left panel represents ACE staining only; right panel- ACE expression merged with DAPI; note mostly membrane-cytoplasmic localization of ACE. (G) Representative microscopic analysis of control and ACE1 cells under different magnifications. Note differentiated, macrophage-like phenotype of ACE1 cells. (H) RT-PCR analysis of MCSF expression in control and ACE-overexpressing cells (ACE1, ACE2, ACE3). Means ± SD of three independent experiments. * p< 0.05 indicates statistical significance.