Ribokines in vascular morphogenesis and tropism

Vascular morphogenesis, the formation of organoid capillary patterns may result from the interaction of monocytes (macrophages) and endothelial cells. Monocytic morphogen activities for endothelial cells were purified (greater than 100 000-fold) to homogeneity and characterized in structure and function from supernatant solutions of serum-free cultures of isolated, lectin-activated porcine peripheral monocytes and from ischemic / infarcted (inflamed) heart muscle sites. An isolated monokine (angiotropin) acts as morphogen in vivo and vitro in the femto mol range: In tissues of different species, bioactive vascular patterns are induced by sprouting capillarization phases with vascular leaky in transition; as corollary, in cultures of cloned endothelial cells, it induces selectively cellular differentiation, migration and spatial organization basic to in-vitro-angiogenesis. Its structure as bioactive copper-ribonucleo-polypeptide complex (Cu-RNP) was determined by it chemical and enzymat ic disintegration and modification by HPLC and micro-detection methods. Proteolysis of polypeptide and removal of complexing Cu-ion components resulted a RNA (75 bases). The RNA was isolated and subjected to chemical sequence analysis. It was found peculiar in that it contains an unusual nucleobase (151 Da, isoguanine). The resulats suggest a new type of cellular messenger molecule in tissue with RNA as component of an extracellular, biocative Cu-RNP cytokine (ribokine).