Cell culture
Human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC), SW-1990 (human pancreatic carcinoma), and SMMC-7721 (human liver carcinoma) cell lines were provided by Research and Development Center for New Drugs, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma) cells were provided by the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (Chinese Academy of Sciences). All adherent cell lines, including MCF-7, SW-1990, and SMMC-7721, were cultured in a humidified 5% CO2 atmosphere at 37°C. Cells were cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and 100 units/mL penicillin; 0.1 mg/mL of streptomycin and HUVEC were cultivated in Endothelial Cell Growth Medium. This medium was prepared with 485 mL of Endothelial Basal Medium (without serum) and 15 mL of growth supplement (3%) of fetal bovine serum. HUVEC cells were cultivated between passages 1 and 7.