Vascular development in the vertebrate pancreas.
Dev Biol
; 420(1): 67-78, 2016 Dec 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27789228
ABSTRACT
The vertebrate pancreas is comprised of a highly branched tubular epithelium, which is intimately associated with an extensive and specialized vasculature. While we know a great deal about basic vascular anatomy of the adult pancreas, as well as islet capillaries, surprisingly little is known about the ontogeny of its blood vessels. Here, we analyze development of the pancreatic vasculature in the mouse embryo. We show that pancreatic epithelial branches intercalate with the fine capillary plexus of the surrounding pancreatic mesenchyme. Endothelial cells (ECs) within this mesenchyme are heterogeneous from the onset of organogenesis. Pancreatic arteries take shape before veins, in a manner analogous to early embryonic vessels. The main central artery forms during mid-gestation, as a result of vessel coalescence and remodeling of a vascular plexus. In addition, we show that vessels in the forming pancreas display a predictable architecture that is dependent on VEGF signaling. Over-expression of VEGF disrupts vascular patterning and arteriovenous differentiation within the developing pancreas. This study constitutes a first-time in-depth cellular and molecular characterization of pancreatic blood vessels, as they coordinately grow along with the pancreatic epithelium.
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Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Pâncreas
/
Vertebrados
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Vasos Sanguíneos
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Neovascularização Fisiológica
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2016
Tipo de documento:
Article