Quantitative assessment of angiogenesis and pericyte coverage in human cell-derived vascular sprouts.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Pericytes, surrounding the endothelium, fulfill diverse functions that are crucial for vascular homeostasis. The loss of pericytes is associated with pathologies, such as diabetic retinopathy and Alzheimer's disease. Thus, there exists a need for an experimental system that combines pharmacologic manipulation and quantification of pericyte coverage during sprouting angiogenesis. Here, we describe an in vitro angiogenesis assay that develops lumenized vascular sprouts composed of endothelial cells enveloped by pericytes, with the additional ability to comparatively screen the effect of multiple small molecules simultaneously. For automated analysis, we also present an ImageJ plugin tool we developed to quantify sprout morphology and pericyte coverage.

Methods

Human

SUBMITTER: Eglinger J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5725907 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature