2.2.1. Cell Cultures

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) obtained from Gibco (Waltham, MA, USA), were grown for 4–8 passages in M200 culture medium (Gibco, Waltham, MA, USA) supplemented with 2% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The cultures were maintained in an atmosphere of humidified 95% air, 5% CO2, at 37 ◦C. Twenty-four hours before treatments, subconfluent HUVEC were cultured in DMEM with 0.5% FBS. The medium was then changed to M200 with 0.1 µg/mL of TNF-α (Sino Biological Inc., Wayne, NJ, USA) and incubated for 24 or 48 h.
