Cell type specific expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and angiopoietin-1 and -2 suggests an important role of astrocytes in cerebellar vascularization

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Abstract

The vascularization of the central nervous system occurs by angiogenic sprouting, a process in which different factors like vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin (Ang)-1/2 must act in a coordinated fashion. We investigated how these factors participate in capillarization of the cerebellum, an area experiencing marked reorganization processes during its postnatal development. VEGF and Ang-1 mRNA were predominantly expressed by astrocytes, while Ang-2 mRNA was specifically induced at the tip of invading endothelial cell cords. Similar to the cerebral cortex, vascularization of the cerebellum occurred in an inside-out pattern, following closely the generation and differentiation of each cerebellar layer. VEGF and Ang-1/2 expression patterns shifted in a similar inside-out fashion, supporting their proposed function in vessel growth and maturation.

Keywords

Angiopoietin
Astrocyte
Cerebellum
Cerebral cortex
Differentiation
Endothelial cell
flt-1
flk-1
Granule cell layer
Molecular cell layer
Postnatal development
Purkinje cell layer
Rat
tie-1
tie-2
Vasculature
Vascularization
Vessel proliferation
Vessel regression
VEGF-R1
VEGF-R2
Vascular endothelial growth factor

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