Pericytes promote endothelial cell survival through induction of autocrine VEGF-A signaling and Bcl-w expression.

ABSTRACT: Endothelial cells (ECs) in blood vessels under formation are stabilized by the recruitment of pericytes, both in normal tissues and during angiogenesis in pathologic situations, including neoplasia. In the tumor vasculature, besides supporting the functionality of blood flow, pericytes protect ECs from antiangiogenic therapies, and have thus been implicated in clinical resistance to vascular targeting drugs. However, the molecular nature of the crosstalk between pericytes and ECs is largely unchartered. Herein, we identified pericyte-induced survival signals in ECs by isolation of vascular fragments derived from tumors that had been genetically or pharmacologically engineered to be either pericyte-rich or pericyte-poor. Pericytes induced the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-w in tumor ECs both in

SUBMITTER: Franco M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3172806 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature