Do endothelial cells dream of eclectic shape?
Endothelial cells (ECs) exhibit dramatic plasticity of form at the single- and collective-cell level during new vessel growth, adult vascular homeostasis, and pathology. Understanding how, when, and why individual ECs coordinate decisions to change shape, in relation to the myriad of dynamic environmental signals, is key to understanding normal and pathological blood vessel behavior. However, this is a complex spatial and temporal problem. In this review we show that the multidisciplinary field of Adaptive Systems offers a refreshing perspective, common biological language, and straightforward toolkit that cell biologists can use to untangle the complexity of dynamic, morphogenetic systems.
Center for Vascular Biology Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Electronic address: kbentley@bidmc.harvard.edu.
Katie
K
Bentley
Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics, Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK.
Andrew
A
Philippides
Center for Vascular Biology Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Erzsébet
E
Ravasz Regan
D000818:Animals; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000502:physiology*; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*