46
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Testing an unusual in vivo vessel network model: a method to study angiogenesis in the colonial tunicate Botryllus schlosseri

      research-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Tunicates are the closest relatives to vertebrates and include the only chordate species able to reproduce both sexually and asexually. The colonial tunicate Botryllus schlosseri is embedded in a transparent extracellular matrix (the tunic) containing the colonial circulatory system (CCS). The latter is a network of vessels external to zooids, limited by a simple, flat epithelium that originated from the epidermis. The CCS propagates and regenerates by remodelling and extending the vessel network through the mechanism of sprouting, which typically characterises vertebrate angiogenesis. In exploiting the characteristics of B. schlosseri as a laboratory model, we present a new experimental and analysis method based on the ability to obtain genetically identical subclones representing paired samples for the appropriate quantitative outcome statistical analysis. The method, tested using human VEGF and EGF to induce angiogenesis, shows that the CCS provides a useful in vivo vessel network model for testing the effects of specific injected solutes on vessel dynamics. These results show the potentiality of B. schlosseri CCS as an effective complementary model for in vivo studies on angiogenesis and anticancer therapy. We discuss this potentiality, taking into consideration the origin, nature, and roles of the cellular and molecular agents involved in CCS growth.

          Related collections

          Most cited references41

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          The dawning era of polymer therapeutics.

          As we enter the twenty-first century, research at the interface of polymer chemistry and the biomedical sciences has given rise to the first nano-sized (5-100 nm) polymer-based pharmaceuticals, the 'polymer therapeutics'. Polymer therapeutics include rationally designed macromolecular drugs, polymer-drug and polymer-protein conjugates, polymeric micelles containing covalently bound drug, and polyplexes for DNA delivery. The successful clinical application of polymer-protein conjugates, and promising clinical results arising from trials with polymer-anticancer-drug conjugates, bode well for the future design and development of the ever more sophisticated bio-nanotechnologies that are needed to realize the full potential of the post-genomic age.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Signal transduction by vascular endothelial growth factor receptors.

            VEGFs (vascular endothelial growth factors) control vascular development during embryogenesis and the function of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels in the adult. There are five related mammalian ligands, which act through three receptor tyrosine kinases. Signalling is modulated through neuropilins, which act as VEGF co-receptors. Heparan sulfate and integrins are also important modulators of VEGF signalling. Therapeutic agents that interfere with VEGF signalling have been developed with the aim of decreasing angiogenesis in diseases that involve tissue growth and inflammation, such as cancer. The present review will outline the current understanding and consequent biology of VEGF receptor signalling.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found
              Is Open Access

              Tumor cell vasculogenic mimicry: from controversy to therapeutic promise.

              In 1999, The American Journal of Pathology published an article entitled "Vascular channel formation by human melanoma cells in vivo and in vitro: vasculogenic mimicry," by Maniotis and colleagues, which ignited a spirited debate for several years and earned distinction as a citation classic. Tumor cell vasculogenic mimicry (VM) refers to the plasticity of aggressive cancer cells forming de novo vascular networks, which thereby contribute to perfusion of rapidly growing tumors, transporting fluid from leaky vessels, and/or connecting with the constitutional endothelial-lined vasculature. The tumor cells capable of VM share a plastic, transendothelial phenotype, which may be induced by hypoxia. Since VM was introduced as a novel paradigm for melanoma tumor perfusion, many studies have contributed new findings illuminating the underlying molecular pathways supporting VM in a variety of tumors, including carcinomas, sarcomas, glioblastomas, astrocytomas, and melanomas. Facilitating the functional plasticity of tumor cell VM are key proteins associated with vascular, stem cell, and hypoxia-related signaling pathways, each deserving serious consideration as potential therapeutic targets and diagnostic indicators of the aggressive, metastatic phenotype. Copyright © 2012 American Society for Investigative Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Sci Rep
                Sci Rep
                Scientific Reports
                Nature Publishing Group
                2045-2322
                24 September 2014
                2014
                : 4
                : 6460
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova , Via Ugo Bassi 58/B, 35131, Padova, Italy
                [2 ]CORIT-Consortium for Research in Organ Transplantation , Legnaro, 35020 Padova, Italy
                Author notes
                Article
                srep06460
                10.1038/srep06460
                4173039
                25248762
                1aacb632-660f-4af0-9c04-92321e07263e
                Copyright © 2014, Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder in order to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

                History
                : 16 May 2014
                : 28 August 2014
                Categories
                Article

                Uncategorized
                Uncategorized

                Comments

                Comment on this article