title: Simultaneous measurement of RBC velocity, flux, hematocrit and shear rate in vascular networks.
abstract: Not all tumor vessels are equal. Tumor-associated vasculature includes immature vessels, regressing vessels, transport vessels undergoing arteriogenesis and peritumor vessels influenced by tumor growth factors. Current techniques for analyzing tumor blood flow do not discriminate between vessel subtypes and only measure average changes from a population of dissimilar vessels. We developed methodologies for simultaneously quantifying blood flow (velocity, flux, hematocrit and shear rate) in extended networks at single-capillary resolution in vivo. Our approach relies on deconvolution of signals produced by labeled red blood cells as they move relative to the scanning laser of a confocal or multiphoton microscope and provides fully resolved three-dimensional flow profiles within vessel networks. Using this methodology, we show that blood velocity profiles are asymmetric near intussusceptive tissue structures in tumors in mice. Furthermore, we show that subpopulations of vessels, classified by functional parameters, exist in and around a tumor and in normal brain tissue.
authors.affiliation: Edwin L. Steele Laboratory, Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Walid S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Kamoun
authors.forename: Sung-Suk
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.forename: Delphine A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Lacorre
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Tyrrell
authors.forename: Mariela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitre
authors.forename: Marijn A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gillissen
authors.forename: Dai
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fukumura
authors.forename: Rakesh K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: Lance L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Munn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D006400:Hematocrit; D018056:Hemorheology; D051379:Mice; D008833:Microcirculation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply*