Lectures 29 and 30 - Angiogenesis Flashcards
Describe the basic structure of blood vessel.
- Vascular endothelial cells form in the inner surface of blood vessels
- Basal lamina is an extracellular matrix layer that the endothelial cells sit on
- Pericytes form a around endothelial cells and are contractile, due to the blood flowing through the vessels
When does the growth of vascular endothelial cells occur?
Growth is developmental, during embryogenesis
What are the two processes that generate new blood vessels?
- Vasculogenesis
- Angiogenesis
What is Vasculogenesis?
Differentiation of precursor angioblasts into endothelial cells (de novo formation of primitive vascular network)
- forms the primary network
What is Angiogenesis?
Formation or remodeling of blood vessels from exisitng blood vessels
- eg., wound healing, pre-existing blood vessels will be reforming around the injury
How does Vasculogenesis occur?
- Mesoderms differentiate into hemangioblasts
- Hemangioblasts begin to form tube like structures which will become the blood vessels
- The tube-like hemangioblasts form a primary capillary plexus (a network)
How do you detect and study Vasculogenesis in vitro?
- Plate embryonic stem cells on gelatin + LIF
- When LIF is withdrawn, embryoid bodies form
- To the plated strain, genetic modifications (gene overexpression and gene deletion) are done to the ES cells
- LIF is removed from the plate with the now modified ES cells
- Results in modified ES-derived embryoid bodies which you use to quantify the endothelial gene expression and analyse the vascular structure formation
- Stain cells with CD31, which is a marker for endothelial cells, to view the forming blood vessels
Vasculogenesis is highly restricted in adult tissues. During which four events does it occur in?
- During development, in the placenta, a whole new vascular system must be created
- In the the uterus, during the menstrual cycle
- During hair growth, the hair has to be supplied with nutrients and gas exchange
- During wound healing, has both angiogenesis and vasculogenesis traits
What is VEGF?
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor
- regulates angiogenesis
What occurs to the cell when VEGF binds to the VEGF receptor?
- The VEGFR is located on the surface of endothelial cells
- When VEGF binds, a signal transduction cascade is adtivated
- VEGFR phosphorylates a tyrosine kinase, which activates it
- The tyrosine kinase then activates PI3K, p38MAPK and Raf
Why is it important that PI3K, p38MAPK and Raf become activated during the binding of VEGF?
- PI3K activates Akt/PKB which lead to vascular permeability and endothelial cell survival (need the cell to survive during remodeling)
- p38MAPK is responsible for endothelial cell migration (cells must go to the right place during remodeling)
- Raf activates MEK which activates Erk, which is required for cell proliferation (cells need to grow at the remodeling location)
What are the VEGF family members that are responsible for vasculogenesis and the ones responsible for tumour angiogenesis?
VEGF has different isoforms and binds with specificity to their cognate receptor
- VEGF-B is responsible for vasculogenesis
- VEGF-C and D are responsible for endothelial cell proliferation, migration and survival which could lead to tumour angiogensis
Why do you have to remodel the environment that the new vascularture is building off of?
- To allow the endothelial cells to lay down and fit/grow
- Involves a large amount of integrin remodeling
When VEGF-A binds to VEGFR-2, what occurs downstream?
- Raf and PI3K are activated
- Raf activates MEK which activates MAP kinase which results in cell division
- PI3K activates Akt which results in cell survival
- Permeability migration mobilization of precursor cells
What did Judah Foulkman discover?
- He came up with the idea that tumour angiogenesis was a central part of the tumour process
- When tumours are small, they can survive with just diffusion of nutrients
- But as they grow, diffusion is no longer sufficient to meet their nutritional needs
- A “switch” occurs (Tumour angiogenesis factor to initiate remodeling)
- This resulted in massive tumour cell survival and growth