Effects of hypergravity on the angiogenic potential of endothelial cells.
Angiogenesis, the formation of blood vessels from pre-existing ones, is a key event in pathology, including cancer progression, but also in homeostasis and regeneration. As the phenotype of endothelial cells (ECs) is continuously regulated by local biomechanical forces, studying endothelial behaviour in altered gravity might contribute to new insights towards angiogenesis modulation. This study aimed at characterizing EC behaviour after hypergravity exposure (more than 1g), with special focus on cytoskeleton architecture and capillary-like structure formation. Herein, human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs) were cultured under two-dimensional and three-dimensional conditions at 3gand 10gfor 4 and 16 h inside the large diameter centrifuge at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) of the European Space Agency. Although no significant tendency regarding cytoskeleton organization was observed for cells exposed to highg's, a slight loss of the perinuclear localization of β-tubulin was observed for cells exposed to 3gwith less pronounced peripheral bodies of actin when compared with 1gcontrol cells. Additionally, hypergravity exposure decreased the assembly of HUVECs into capillary-like structures, with a 10glevel significantly reducing their organization capacity. In conclusion, short-term hypergravity seems to affect EC phenotype and their angiogenic potential in a time andg-level-dependent manner.
3B's Research Group-Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Guimarães, Portugal.|ICVS/3B's-PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal.
Raquel
0000-0001-7188-645X
R
Costa-Almeida
i3S-Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.|INEB-Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.|ICBAS-Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.|FEUP-Faculade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
Daniel T O
DT
Carvalho
i3S-Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.|INEB-Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.|ICBAS-Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.|FEUP-Faculade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
Miguel J S
MJ
Ferreira
ICBAS-Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.|FEUP-Faculade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
Guilherme
G
Aresta
3B's Research Group-Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Guimarães, Portugal.|ICVS/3B's-PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal.
Manuela E
ME
Gomes
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Oral Pathology, VU-University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|ESTEC, TEC-MMG-Lab, European Space Agency (ESA), Noordwijk, The Netherlands.
Jack J W A
JJ
van Loon
Department of Biomedical Engineering, ErasmusMC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Kim
K
Van der Heiden
i3S-Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal pgranja@i3s.up.pt.|INEB-Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.|ICBAS-Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.|FEUP-Faculade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
Pedro L
0000-0003-2761-4929
PL
Granja
D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D061307:Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D018471:Hypergravity; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D014404:Tubulin / Q000378:metabolism
D000199:Actins; D014404:Tubulin
altered gravity; capillary-like structures; cytoskeleton; hypergravity pre-stimulation; three-dimensional matrigel