title: Endothelial Erg expression is required for embryogenesis and vascular integrity.
abstract: Members of the ETS family of transcription factors are involved in several developmental processes including endothelial cell specification and blood vessel formation, but their exact roles remain unclear. The family member Erg is highly expressed in endothelial cells as compared to other developing cell types including chondrocytes, hematopoietic cells and mesodermal cells. To study the specific roles ERG plays in endothelial cell specification and function during early embryogenesis, we conditionally ablated it by mating ErgloxP/loxP and Tie2-Cre mice. We found that mutant embryos died by mid-gestation and that angiogenesis and vascular integrity were highly compromised. Our study reveals that ERG has essential and cell autonomous roles in endothelial cell development and blood vessel maintenance.
authors.affiliation: a Arthritis Center; Boston University School of Medicine ; Boston , MA USA.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pacifici
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trojanowska
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000502:physiology*; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D015513:Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D000071230:Transcriptional Regulator ERG
chemical_list: C531115:ERG protein, mouse; D015513:Oncogene Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000071230:Transcriptional Regulator ERG
keywords: ERG; embryogenesis; endothelial cells; vascular integrity; vascular remodeling