title: Establishment of neurovascular congruency in the mouse whisker system by an independent patterning mechanism.
abstract: Nerves and vessels often run parallel to one another, a phenomenon that reflects their functional interdependency. Previous studies have suggested that neurovascular congruency in planar tissues such as skin is established through a "one-patterns-the-other" model, in which either the nervous system or the vascular system precedes developmentally and then instructs the other system to form using its established architecture as a template. Here, we find that, in tissues with complex three-dimensional structures such as the mouse whisker system, neurovascular congruency does not follow the previous model but rather is established via a mechanism in which nerves and vessels are patterned independently. Given the diversity of neurovascular structures in different tissues, guidance signals emanating from a central organizer in the specific target tissue may act as an important mechanism to establish neurovascular congruency patterns that facilitate unique target tissue function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Won-Jong
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Chenghua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology; D039961:Semaphorins; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000294:innervation* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D006023:Glycoproteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C473552:Plxnd1 protein, mouse; C111150:Sema3e protein, mouse; D039961:Semaphorins