Premium
ERK activation in endothelial cells is a novel marker during neovasculogenesis
Author(s) -
NagasawaMasuda Ayumi,
Terai Kenta
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
genes to cells
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1365-2443
pISSN - 1356-9597
DOI - 10.1111/gtc.12438
Subject(s) - vasculogenesis , biology , lymphangiogenesis , microbiology and biotechnology , angiogenesis , mapk/erk pathway , zebrafish , endothelial stem cell , signal transduction , cancer research , stem cell , in vitro , biochemistry , genetics , progenitor cell , cancer , gene , metastasis
Vasculogenesis is essential during early development to construct networks transporting oxygen, blood and nutrients. Tip and stalk cells are specialized endothelial cells involved in novel vessel formation because of their behavior such as sprouting as a leading cell and following tip cell. However, the spatiotemporal details determining the emergence of these cells are unknown. Here, we first show that the ERK activity in endothelial cells represents the precursor of tip and stalk cells for vasculogenesis in zebrafish. We identified that tip and stalk cells for intersegmental vessel ( ISV ) formation were already specialized in the dorsal aorta ( DA ) before sprouting. Furthermore, similar specialization was observed in tip cells during parachordal vessel ( PAV ) formation in lymphangiogenesis. We also identified that the ERK activity was required for specialized cells to emerge from existing blood vessels. Our data show that the ERK activity is a novel marker for determining the emergence of cells in both angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis.