Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-19T23:46:10.642Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

In vitro Vasculogenesis Models Revisited - Measurementof VEGF Diffusion in Matrigel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2009

T. Miura*
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine JST CREST & PRESTO
R. Tanaka
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, Kyoto University Faculy of Science
Get access

Abstract

The circulatory system is one of the first to function during development. The earliest event in the system's development is vasculogenesis, whereby vascular progeniter cells form clusters called blood islands, which later fuse to form capillary networks. There exists a very good in vitro system that mimics this process. When HUVECs (Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells) are cultured on Matrigel, they spontaneously form a capillary network structure. Two theoretical models have been proposed to explain the pattern formation of this in vitro system. Both models utilize chemotaxis to generate spatial instability, and one model specifies VEGF as the chemoattractant. However, there are several unknown factors concerning the experimental model. First, the pattern formation process occurs at the interface between the liquid medium and Matrigel, and it is unclear whether diffusion in the liquid or gel is critical. Second, the diffusion coefficient of VEGF, which determines the spatial scale of the capillary structure, has not been properly measured. In the present study, we modified the experimental system to clarify the effect of diffusion in Matrigel, and experimentally measured the diffusion coefficient of VEGF in this system. The relationship with the spatial scale of the pattern generated is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

S. Gilbert. Developmental Biology. Sinauer, Massachusettes, 2003.
T. Sadler. Langman's Medical Embryology. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Maryland, 9th edition, 2004.
J. Murray. Mathematical biology. Springer - Verlag, Berlin, third edition, 2003.
W. Aird. Endothelial Biomedicine. Cambridge university press, 2007.
D. Manoussaki, S. Lubkin, R. Vernon, J. Murray. A mechanical model for the formation of vascular networks in vitro. Acta Biotheor, 44 (1996) No. 3-4, 271–282.
R. Merks, S. Brodsky, M. Goligorksy, S. Newman, J. Glazier. Cell elongation is key to in silico replication of in vitro vasculogenesis and subsequent remodeling. Dev Biol, 289 (2006) No. 1, 44–54.
G. Serini, D. Ambrosi, E. Giraudo, A. Gamba, L. Preziosi, F. Bussolino. Modeling the early stages of vascular network assembly. EMBO J, 22 (2003) No. 8, 1771–1779.
D. Berk, F. Yuan, M. Leunig, R. Jain. Fluorescence photobleaching with spatial fourier analysis: measurement of diffusion in light-scattering media. Biophys J, 65 (1993) No. 6, 2428–2436.
M. Chambard, J. Gabrion, J. Mauchamp. Influence of collagen gel on the orientation of epithelial cell polarity: follicle formation from isolated thyroid cells and from preformed monolayers. J Cell Biol, 91 (1981) No. 1, 157–166.
Miura, T.. Modulation of activator diffusion by extracellular matrix in turing system. RIMS Kokyuroku Bessatsu, B3 (2007), 165-176.
F. Crick. Diffusion in embryogenesis. Nature, 225 (1970) No. 5231, 420–422.
G. Reeves, C. Muratov, T. Schuepbach, S. Shvartsman. Quantitative models of developmental pattern formation. Dev Cell, 11 (2006) No. 3, 289–300.
Buelow, H., Hobert, O.. The molecular diversity of glycosaminoglycans shapes animal development. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol, 22 (2006), 375407. CrossRef
A. Okubo. Diffusion and ecological problems: mathematical models. Springer-Verlag, 1980.
Iida, M., Mimura, M., Ninomiya, H.. Diffusion, cross-diffusion and competitive interaction. J Math Biol, 53 (2006), 617-641. CrossRef
C. Nicholson, E. Sykova. Extracellular space structure revealed by diffusion analysis. Trends Neurosci, 21 (1998) No. 5, 207–215.
R. Thorne, C. Nicholson. In vivo diffusion analysis with quantum dots and dextrans predicts the width of brain extracellular space. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 103 (2006) No. 14, 5567–5572.
F. Gelain, D. Bottai, A. Vescovi, S. Zhang. Designer self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffolds for adult mouse neural stem cell 3-dimensional cultures. PLoS ONE, 1 (2006):e119.
P. Iglesias and P. Devreotes. Navigating through models of chemotaxis. Curr Opin Cell Biol, 20 (2008) No. 1, 35–40.
I. Barkefors, S. Le Jan, L. Jakobsson, E. Hejll, G. Carlson, H. Johansson, J. Jarvius, J. Park, N. Jeon, J. Kreuger. Endothelial cell migration in stable gradients of vascular endothelial growth factor a and fibroblast growth factor 2: effects on chemotaxis and chemokinesis. J Biol Chem, 283 (2008) No. 20, 13905–13912.
J. Park, G. Keller, N. Ferrara. The vascular endothelial growth factor (vegf) isoforms: differential deposition into the subepithelial extracellular matrix and bioactivity of extracellular matrix-bound vegf. Mol Biol Cell, 4 (1993) No. 12, 1317–1326.
C. Ruhrberg, H. Gerhardt, M. Golding, R. Watson, S. Ioannidou, H. Fujisawa, C. Betsholtz, D. Shima. Spatially restricted patterning cues provided by heparin-binding vegf-a control blood vessel branching morphogenesis. Genes Dev, 16 (2002) No. 20, 2684–2698.