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  • The EMBO Journal (2003) 22, 1771 - 1779
  • doi:10.1093/emboj/cdg176

Modeling the early stages of vascular network assembly

Guido Serini1,3, Davide Ambrosi2,3, Enrico Giraudo1,3, Andrea Gamba2,3, Luigi Preziosi2 and Federico Bussolino1

  1. Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment and Department of Oncological Sciences, University of Torino, 10060 Candiolo (TO), Italy
  2. Department of Mathematics, Polytechnic of Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
  3. G.Serini, D.Ambrosi, E.Giraudo and A.Gamba contributed equally to this work

Correspondence to:

Federico Bussolino, E-mail: federico.bussolino@ircc.it

Received 10 September 2002; Accepted 24 February 2003; Revised 19 February 2003

In vertebrates, networks of capillary vessels supply tissues with nutrients. Capillary patterns are closely mimicked by endothelial cells cultured on basement membrane proteins that allow single randomly dispersed cells to self-organize into vascular networks. Here we provide a model including chemoattraction as the fundamental mechanism for cell-to-cell communication in order to identify key parameters in the complexity of the formation of vascular patterns. By flanking biological experiments, theoretical insights and numerical simulations, we provide strong evidence that endothelial cell number and the range of activity of a chemoattractant factor regulate vascular network formation and size. We propose a mechanism linking the scale of formed endothelial structures to the range of cell-to-cell interaction mediated by the release of chemoattractants.

  • Keywords:

    • endothelium,
    • in vitro angiogenesis,
    • motility,
    • non-linear equation,
    • percolation