Mechanical Intercellular Communication via Matrix-Borne Cell Force Transmission During Vascular Network Formation.
Adv Sci (Weinh)
; 11(3): e2306210, 2024 Jan.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37997199
ABSTRACT
Intercellular communication is critical to the formation and homeostatic function of all tissues. Previous work has shown that cells can communicate mechanically via the transmission of cell-generated forces through their surrounding extracellular matrix, but this process is not well understood. Here, mechanically defined, synthetic electrospun fibrous matrices are utilized in conjunction with a microfabrication-based cell patterning approach to examine mechanical intercellular communication (MIC) between endothelial cells (ECs) during their assembly into interconnected multicellular networks. It is found that cell force-mediated matrix displacements in deformable fibrous matrices underly directional extension and migration of neighboring ECs toward each other prior to the formation of stable cell-cell connections enriched with vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin). A critical role is also identified for calcium signaling mediated by focal adhesion kinase and mechanosensitive ion channels in MIC that extends to multicellular assembly of 3D vessel-like networks when ECs are embedded within fibrin hydrogels. These results illustrate a role for cell-generated forces and ECM mechanical properties in multicellular assembly of capillary-like EC networks and motivates the design of biomaterials that promote MIC for vascular tissue engineering.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Comunicación Celular
/
Células Endoteliales
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Adv Sci (Weinh)
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos