Glycer-AGEs-RAGE signaling enhances the angiogenic potential of hepatocellular carcinoma by upregulating VEGF expression

Figure 6 Effect of glyceraldehyde-derived advanced glycation end-products-treated CM on human umbilical vein endothelial cells angiogenesis. A: The migratory capacity of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) was evaluated using the endothelial cell migration assay. Cells were incubated with CM-bovine serum albumin (BSA) or glyceraldehyde-derived advanced glycation end-products-treated CM (CM-Glycer-AGEs) for 22 h, and the number of migrating cells was assessed using a fluorescence microplate reader. RFU: relative fluorescence units (n = 8); B and C: The tube formation of HUVEC was evaluated using the endothelial cell tube formation assay (n = 5). Cells were incubated with CM-BSA or CM-Glycer-AGEs for 12 h and then photographed under a microscope (B); the number of branch points was counted (C). Magnification = 100 ×. The open and filled bars represent results for cells treated with CM-BSA and CM-Glycer-AGEs, respectively. Data are shown as the mean ± SD, ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01 vs CM-BSA.