Pulmonary artery cells in vivo are generally relatively sedentary due to the intercellular junctions that secure them to other cells in specific locations. When removed from tissue and placed in a culture chamber, however, the cells demonstrate an intrinsic ability for performing locomotive movements. The cells are capable of migrating to new sites via repeated cycles of extension and contraction. Various surface extensions, including stubby pseudopodia, small, narrow filopodia, and broad, fan-like lamellipodia are extremely important for their locomotion, though the temporary structures cannot easily be observed during the high speed playback of this time-lapse sequence of live bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells, which was captured under low magnification.

The video does, however, demonstrate that BPAE cells continue locomotive movements even when they have nearly formed a complete monolayer in a culture chamber. Although they have filled in most of the available space, the bovine pulmonary artery cells continue to shift positions and realign themselves in a variety of manners. Many of the endothelial cells seem to travel lazily along, as if carried along by the slow current of a stream. Yet, some of the larger cells, including several that are binucleated, appear to be more stationary, and the smaller cells are forced to travel around them.

A number of the BPAE cells in the culture chamber undergo mitosis during this time-lapse sequence. The low-magnification at which the images were captured renders it difficult to observe many of the details of the process, but careful observation reveals the characteristic spherical form the cells assume immediately prior to division. The flattening of daughter cells as the settle upon the chamber surface is also exhibited, their cytoplasmic contents seeming to roll out in tiny waves around the central nucleus-containing regions of the cells.