Identification of laminin α1 and β1 chain peptides active for endothelial cell adhesion, tube formation, and aortic sprouting

Laminin-1 is a basement membrane glycoprotein that promotes several biological activities including cell attachment, tumor metastasis, and angiogenesis. Angiogenesis plays an important role in tissue formation, reproduction, wound healing, and several pathological conditions. In this study, we screened 405 synthetic peptides from the α1 and β1 chains to identify potential sites on laminin-1 active with endothelial cells. Peptides were initially screened by testing both endothelial cell adhesion to peptide-coated wells and tube formation on Matrigel in the presence of soluble peptide. Twenty active peptides were identified in these screens. A secondary screen using the rat aortic ring sprouting assay identified 13 of the 20 peptides that stimulated endothelial sprouting. Several of these active peptides were also found to stimulate human umbilical vein endothelial cell migration in Boyden chamber assays. Differences in the amount of peptide needed for the response and in the resultant morphologies/response...