Biology subjects

Franco, C. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Franco, C. A..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2017

PolNet Analysis: a software tool for the quantification of network-level endothelial cell polarity and blood flow during vascular remodelling

In this paper, we present PolNet, an open source software tool for the study of blood flow and cell-level biological activity during vessel morphogenesis. We provide an image acquisition, segmentation, and analysis protocol to quantify endothelial cell polarity in entire in vivo vascular networks. In combination, we use computational fluid dynamics to characterise the haemodynamics of the vascular networks under study. The tool enables, for the first time, network-level analysis of polarity and flow for individual endothelial cells. To date, PolNet has proven invaluable for the study of endothelial cell polarisation and migration during vascular patterning, as demonstrated by our recent papers [1, 2]. Additionally, the tool can be easily extended to correlate blood flow with other experimental observations at the cellular/molecular level. We release the source code of our tool under the LGPL licence.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2017

YAP and TAZ regulate adherens junction dynamics and endothelial cell distribution during vascular development

Formation of a hierarchically organized blood vessel network by sprouting angiogenesis is critical for tissue growth, homeostasis and regeneration. How in this process endothelial cells arise in adequate numbers and arrange suitably to shape a functional vascular network is poorly understood. Here we show that YAP and TAZ promote stretch-induced proliferation and rearrangements of endothelial cells whilst preventing bleeding in developing vessels. Mechanistically, YAP and TAZ increase VE-cadherin turnover at junctions and suppress endothelial Notch and BMP signaling, two key pathways that limit sprouting and endothelial dynamics. Consequently, the loss of YAP and TAZ leads to stunted sprouting with local aggregation as well as scarcity of endothelial cells, branching irregularities and junction defects. Forced nuclear activity of TAZ instead drives hypersprouting and vascular hyperplasia. We propose a new model in which YAP and TAZ integrate mechanical signals with Notch and BMP signaling to balance endothelial cell distribution in angiogenic vessels.

developmental biology↗