Neuro‐vascular interaction during mouse development

Nerves and blood vessels provide a vital network among tissues. We have demonstrated that arteries align themselves with developing peripheral nerves in the embryonic limb skin. Moreover, recent experiments using the Cre‐loxP recombination system to specifically inactivate Vegf‐A in peripheral nerves or Np1 , a co‐receptor for VEGF‐A, in endothelial cells suggest that nerve‐derived VEGF‐A promotes arterial differentiation via NP1‐mediated positive‐feedback loop. Nerve‐blood vessel alignment is unperturbed in these mutants, suggesting the involvement of distinct nerve‐derived signals in the patterning and arterial differentiation process. Indeed, we have begun to test the functional role of nerve‐derived chemokine in the nerve‐arterial vessel alignment. These observations will allow us to further dissect the process of angiogenesis in the limb skin. Our studies have also extended to elucidating the neuro‐vascular interaction in developing heart and spinal cord. In the heart, sympathetic neurons innervate and control coronary blood vessels as well as cardiac muscle, whereas sprouting angiogenesis develops early vascular patterns in the spinal cord. These preliminary data will be discussed.