title: Involvement of integrin-linked kinase in capillary/tube-like network formation of human vascular endothelial cells.
abstract: Angiogenesis is a complex process involving an ECM and vascular endothelial cells (EC), and is regulated by various angiogenic factors including VEGF. The ability to form a capillary/tube-like network is a specialized function of EC. Therefore, in vitro angiogenesis was assessed by a capillary/tube-like network formation assay. There are three angiogenic parameters: capillary length, number of capillaries, and relative capillary area per field. We evaluated capillary length per field in the assay. VEGF promoted capillary/tube-like network formation of EC in a type I collagen gel matrix in vitro. Moreover, we demonstrated the involvement of ILK in a VEGF signaling pathway mediating capillary/tube-like network formation of EC using dominant-negative, kinase deficient ILK. This is a straightforward assay to monitor responses of human vascular endothelial cells.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Research Laboratory, Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Saitama, 357-8527, Japan.
authors.forename: Motomu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Yayoi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujioka-Kaneko
authors.forename: Hisayuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kiniwa
authors.forename: Michihiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuwano
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Basaki