title: Ve-ptp modulates vascular integrity by promoting adherens junction maturation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Endothelial cell junctions control blood vessel permeability. Altered permeability can be associated with vascular fragility that leads to vessel weakness and haemorrhage formation. In vivo studies on the function of genes involved in the maintenance of vascular integrity are essential to better understand the molecular basis of diseases linked to permeability defects. Ve-ptp (Vascular Endothelial-Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase) is a transmembrane protein present at endothelial adherens junctions (AJs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We investigated the role of Ve-ptp in AJ maturation/stability and in the modulation of endothelial permeability using zebrafish (Danio rerio). Whole-mount in situ hybridizations revealed zve-ptp expression exclusively in the developing vascular system. Generation of altered zve-ptp transcripts, induced separately by two different splicing morpholinos, resulted in permeability defects closely linked to vascular wall fragility. The ultrastructural analysis revealed a statistically significant reduction of junction complexes and the presence of immature AJs in zve-ptp morphants but not in control embryos.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Here we show the first in vivo evidence of a potentially critical role played by Ve-ptp in AJ maturation, an important event for permeability modulation and for the development of a functional vascular system.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Universitàdegli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carra
authors.forename: Efrem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Foglia
authors.forename: Solei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cermenati
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bresciani
authors.forename: Costanza
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giampietro
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lora Lamia
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dejana
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beltrame
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cotelli
mesh_terms: D022005:Adherens Junctions / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D017931:DNA Primers; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D054631:Receptor-Like Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases, Class 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015027:Zebrafish
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D054631:Receptor-Like Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases, Class 3