title: Microvascular development: learning from pancreatic islets.
abstract: Microvascular development is determined by the interplay between tissue cells and microvascular endothelial cells. Because the pancreatic islet is an organ composed mainly of endothelial and endocrine cells, it represents a good model tissue for studying microvascular development in the context of a tissue. In this review, we will describe the special morphology of islet capillaries and its role in the physiologic function of islets: secretion of insulin in response to blood glucose levels. We will speculate on how islet-secreted VEGF-A generates a permeable endothelium that allows insulin to pass quickly into the blood stream. In addition, we speculate on how endothelial cells might form a capillary lumen within the islets. At the end, we look at the islet microvasculature from a medical point of view, thus describing its critical role during type I diabetes and islet transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden Germany.
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Konstantinova
authors.forename: Eckhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lammert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D000078790:Insulin Secretion; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000502:physiology; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A