NO (nitric oxide): the ring master.
The migration and proliferation of endothelial cells affect the process of angiogenesis or the formation of blood vessels. Endothelial cells interact with each other to form ring-like structures in monolayers and tubular structures in matrigels. However, the transit phase between the individual endothelial cells and fully formed tubular structures is yet to be established. Guided by imaging, Western blot analysis, drug perturbation studies and siRNA studies we validate that endothelial ring structures are the fundamental and monomeric units of capillary tubes and nitric oxide is implicated in their fabrication. Giving input from experimental data, we used bagging classifier and information-gain to determine some of the physical and chemical parameters that define these biological structures. Further, we elucidated the implications of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and the NO/sGC/cGMP pathway in the formation of endothelial rings. We conclude that, formation of endothelial ring structure is important for angiogenesis and is mediated by the NO/sGC/cGMP pathway; and further endothelial rings can be used as in vitro models to study angiogenesis.
Sinha
Swaraj
S
Vascular Biology Lab, AU-KBC Research Centre, MIT Campus, Anna University, Chennai 600 004, Tamil Nadu, India.
Sridhara
Sree Rama Chaitanya
SR
Srinivasan
Sundaramoorthy
S
Muley
Ajit
A
Majumder
Syamantak
S
Kuppusamy
Maniselvan
M
Gupta
Ravi
R
Chatterjee
Suvro
S
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002417:Cattle; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000378:metabolism; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015870:Gene Expression; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008853:Microscopy; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / Q000378:metabolism; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D000071756:Soluble Guanylyl Cyclase; D000098662:Vasodilator-Stimulated Phosphoprotein
D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; D000098662:Vasodilator-Stimulated Phosphoprotein; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase; D000071756:Soluble Guanylyl Cyclase; D006152:Cyclic GMP