LX13714E - Blood vessel formation is an important process during development, regeneration and disease. Networks of blood vessels are formed by cells that move around and interact with one another. By computationally modeling this collective behavior of cells we show that long, adhesive cells form networks without any long distance forces and we explain how this happens. In experiments, living cells are seeded on a medium, upon which they elongate and form a network that is similar to the networks formed by our model. This network formation has been attributed to long distance forces, either via chemicals secreted by the cells or mechanical forces conducted by the medium. We now show that long cells form groups of aligned cells. When these groups meet they do not merge but form a branch point and in this manner a network is formed. Earlier studies showed that cell elongation is important in network formation; our work explains how cell elongation helps network formation. Furthermore we show that long distance forces are not necessary, although they may act to stabilize the networks. These new insights can help to interpret experimental results and thus benefit the overall understanding of blood vessel formation.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Cell shape is the key to understanding blood vessel formation
LX13714E - Blood vessel formation is an important process during development, regeneration and disease. Networks of blood vessels are formed by cells that move around and interact with one another. By computationally modeling this collective behavior of cells we show that long, adhesive cells form networks without any long distance forces and we explain how this happens. In experiments, living cells are seeded on a medium, upon which they elongate and form a network that is similar to the networks formed by our model. This network formation has been attributed to long distance forces, either via chemicals secreted by the cells or mechanical forces conducted by the medium. We now show that long cells form groups of aligned cells. When these groups meet they do not merge but form a branch point and in this manner a network is formed. Earlier studies showed that cell elongation is important in network formation; our work explains how cell elongation helps network formation. Furthermore we show that long distance forces are not necessary, although they may act to stabilize the networks. These new insights can help to interpret experimental results and thus benefit the overall understanding of blood vessel formation.
