Aim To determine whether advanced glycation end products(AGE)altered the morphology and distribution of the adherens junction protein vascular endothelial(VE)-cadherin in human umbilical vein endothelial cells(hUVEC)and to understand the mechanism of this alteration.Methods Human umbilical vein endothelial cells(hUVEC)were respectively incubated with AGE-HSA in different concentrations and timing.In some other cases,hUVECs were pretreated with mitogen activated protein kinase(MAPK)pathway inhibitors(PD98059,SP600125,SB203580),or transfected with adenovirus.To visualize the morphological changes of VE-cadherin,cells were incubated with rabbit anti-VE-cadherin primary antibody and then FITC anti-rabbit IgG secondary antibody.The morphological changes of VE-cadherin were observed with confocal microscope.Results The morphological of VE-cadherin was significantly changed in coincident with an increase of the dose and time of AGE-HSA.These changes could be inhibited with MAPK and Rho inhibitors.Conclusion These observations suggested that AGE modified proteins can induce morphological changes of VE-cadherin in endothelial cell.Activations of MAP kinase and Rho kinase pathways play an important role in AGEs-induced hUVECs VE-cadherin distribution.