Lampejo Arinola O, Hodges Nicholas A, Rozenblum Maximillian, Murfee Walter L
J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2024;2711:63-75. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3429-5_6.
The ability to track cells and their interactions with other cells during physiological processes offers a powerful tool for scientific discovery. An ex vivo model that enables real-time investigation of cell migration during angiogenesis in adult microvascular networks would enable observation of endothelial cell dynamics during capillary sprouting. Angiogenesis is defined as the growth of new blood vessels from existing ones and involves multiple cell types including endothelial cells, pericytes, and interstitial cells. The incorporation of these cell types in a physiologically relevant environment, however, represents a challenge for biomimetic model development. Recently, our laboratory has developed the rat mesentery culture model, which enables investigation of angiogenesis in an intact tissue. The objective of this chapter is to detail a protocol for tracking cellular dynamics during angiogenesis using the rat mesentery tissue culture model. The method involves harvesting mesentery tissues from adult SD-EGFP rats, culturing them in MEM + 10% fetal bovine serum, and imaging network regions over the time course of angiogenesis. In example applications, time-lapse comparison of microvascular networks in cultured tissues confirmed dramatic increases in GFP-positive capillary sprouting and GFP-positive segment density. Additionally, tracking of individual capillary sprout extensions revealed their ability to "jump" by disconnecting from one vessel segment and reconnecting to another segment in the network. GFP-positive sprouts were also capable of undergoing subsequent regression. The representative results support the use of the rat mesentery culture model for identifying and tracking cellular dynamics during angiogenesis in intact microvascular networks.
在生理过程中追踪细胞及其与其他细胞相互作用的能力为科学发现提供了一个强大的工具。一种能够在成人微血管网络血管生成过程中实时研究细胞迁移的体外模型,将能够观察毛细血管芽生过程中内皮细胞的动态变化。血管生成被定义为从现有血管生长出新的血管,涉及多种细胞类型,包括内皮细胞、周细胞和间质细胞。然而,在生理相关环境中整合这些细胞类型,对仿生模型的开发来说是一项挑战。最近,我们实验室开发了大鼠肠系膜培养模型,该模型能够在完整组织中研究血管生成。本章的目的是详细介绍一种使用大鼠肠系膜组织培养模型追踪血管生成过程中细胞动态变化的方案。该方法包括从成年SD-EGFP大鼠身上采集肠系膜组织,在MEM + 10%胎牛血清中培养,并在血管生成的时间过程中对网络区域进行成像。在示例应用中,对培养组织中微血管网络的延时比较证实了GFP阳性毛细血管芽生和GFP阳性节段密度的显著增加。此外,对单个毛细血管芽延伸的追踪显示它们能够通过与一个血管节段断开连接并重新连接到网络中的另一个节段来“跳跃”。GFP阳性芽也能够随后发生消退。这些代表性结果支持使用大鼠肠系膜培养模型来识别和追踪完整微血管网络血管生成过程中的细胞动态变化。