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Vascular Endothelial‐Derived Growth Factor is Required for Proper Formation and Patterning of Intramembranous Bones
Author(s) -
FranzOdendaal Tamara,
Jabalee James
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.872.6
Subject(s) - intramembranous ossification , endochondral ossification , ossicles , vascular endothelial growth factor , anatomy , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , angiogenesis , ossification , vascular endothelial growth factor a , ossicle , cartilage , middle ear , vegf receptors , genetics , cancer research
Bone development is regulated by extensive crosstalk between osteoblasts and vascular endothelial cells. Vascular endothelial growth factor (Vegf), encoded by the vegfa gene, plays a key role in coupling bone and vascular development during the formation of the mesoderm‐derived endochondral bones of the limb skeleton. Despite the importance of Vegf in endochondral ossification, little work has been done to better understand the role of Vegf during the development of the neural crest‐derived intramembranous bones of the skull. Using the scleral ossicles of the embryonic chick as a model, we examine the spatiotemporal expression pattern of vegfa throughout the course of scleral ossicle development from induction to mineralization and determine the effect of Vegf inhibition of ossicle development. Vegfa is strongly expressed at the time of ossicle induction and is down regulated thereafter. Vegf inhibition via implantation of beads soaked in a soluble, inactive form of the Vegf receptor 1 resulted in severe mispatterning of the scleral ossicles, including changes in ossicle size and shape, as well as loss of boundaries between neighboring ossicles. Our results suggest that Vegf plays a previously unidentified role in the earliest phases of intramembranous ossification. This work was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Killam Trusts.