The rigidity in fibrin gels as a contributing factor to the dynamics of in vitro vascular cord formation

While the formation of vascular cords in in vitro angiogenesis assay is commonly used to test the angiogenic properties of many molecular or cellular components, an extensive characterisation of the dynamics of this process is still lacking. Up to now, quantitative studies only focused on the result...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Microvascular research Vol. 73; no. 3; pp. 182 - 190
Main Authors:	Stéphanou, A., Meskaoui, G., Vailhé, B., Tracqui, P.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Elsevier Inc 01-05-2007 Elsevier
Subjects:	Capillary–like structures Cell Enlargement Cell Line Cell Movement Cell Shape Cell traction Cellular Biology Computer Science Endothelial Cells - metabolism Fibrin Fibrin - chemistry Fibrin - metabolism Gels Humans Image Processing, Computer-Assisted In vitro angiogenesis Kinetics Life Sciences Microscopy, Video Modeling and Simulation Models, Biological Neovascularization, Physiologic Segmentation Tension field Trajectography Vascular cords In vitro angiogenesis Capillary–like structures Fibrin Segmentation Cell traction Vascular cords Tension field Trajectography Capillary-like structures
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	While the formation of vascular cords in in vitro angiogenesis assay is commonly used to test the angiogenic properties of many molecular or cellular components, an extensive characterisation of the dynamics of this process is still lacking. Up to now, quantitative studies only focused on the resulting capillary structures characterised through static morphometric approaches. We therefore propose in this paper a rather extensive characterisation aiming to identify different stages in the dynamics of this process, through the investigation of the influence of the rigidity of the fibrin extracellular matrix on the growth of the vascular cords. Using time lapse videomicroscopy, the time evolution of relevant morphodynamical parameters has been considered both at the cell level and at the cell population level. At the cell level, a trajectography analysis of individual cells observed in different locations of the growing network has been conducted and analysed using a random walk model. From image sequence analysis and segmentation i.e. extraction of the boundaries of the lacunae formed through matrix degradation and cell tractions, the evolution of the lacunae surface has been precisely quantified, revealing different phases and transitions in the growth patterns. Our results indicate that the rigidity of the extracellular fibrin matrix strongly influences the different stages, i.e. the dynamics of the angiogenic process. Consequently, optimal rigidity conditions for the formation of stable vascular cord networks could be identified in the context of our experiments.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0026-2862 1095-9319
DOI:	10.1016/j.mvr.2006.12.002