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Review
. 2018 Sep 10:38:25.
doi: 10.1186/s41232-018-0083-8. eCollection 2018.

Morphology regulation in vascular endothelial cells

Kiyomi Tsuji-Tamura  1   2 , Minetaro Ogawa  1
Affiliations
Review

Morphology regulation in vascular endothelial cells

Kiyomi Tsuji-Tamura et al. Inflamm Regen. .

Abstract

Morphological change in endothelial cells is an initial and crucial step in the process of establishing a functional vascular network. Following or associated with differentiation and proliferation, endothelial cells elongate and assemble into linear cord-like vessels, subsequently forming a perfusable vascular tube. In vivo and in vitro studies have begun to outline the underlying genetic and signaling mechanisms behind endothelial cell morphology regulation. This review focuses on the transcription factors and signaling pathways regulating endothelial cell behavior, involved in morphology, during vascular development.

Keywords: Angiogenesis; Elongation; Endothelial cells; Morphology; Vasculature.

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Conflict of interest statement

Not applicable.Not applicable.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic model of early vascular development. Endothelial cells are derived from mesodermal precursors: angioblasts and hemangioblasts. They form vascular networks by undergoing morphological changes. Possible transcription factors (red) and signaling molecules (green) controlling each process are shown. During early vascular development, hematopoietic lineages arise from hemangioblasts or hemogenic endothelium
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Schematic model of transcription factor and signaling molecule interactions in endothelial cell functions. VEGF regulates endothelial cell functions through interaction and association with PI3K-Akt, mTOR, and Notch signaling. Foxo1-dependent (blue) and Foxo1-independent (red) pathways for endothelial cell elongation are shown. Pathway depends on environmental levels of VEGF
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Elongation of endothelial cells derived from ES cells. a In the co-culture system with OP9 stromal feeder cells, ES-derived endothelial cells form a round colony in the presence of a low level of VEGF, which produced by OP9 cells (left panel). These cells form long elongated structures, when stimulated by a high level of VEGF (right panel). Scale bar 200 μm. b ES-derived endothelial cells form vessel-like structures in the 3D collagen gel culture. Scale bar 100 μm
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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