First published online December 30, 2003
Development 131, 205e (2004)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Go with the flow
For mammalian and bird embryos to survive, a complex vascular system must
form in the yolk sac surrounding the embryo and connect correctly to the
embryonic circulation. On p.
361, le Noble et al. propose that haemodynamic flow plays a central
role in arterial-venous patterning and differentiation within the chick yolk
sac. The researchers show that during this developmental process, thin vessels
from the arterial domain of the sac disconnect from the arterial tree before
reconnecting to the venous system, indicating that arterial-venous
differentiation is plastic. To test whether haemodynamic flow is involved in
this plasticity, le Noble and colleagues altered the flow in the developing
vasculature. Their results, which include a complete loss of arterial-venous
patterning and differentiation in the absence of perfusion, suggest that
haemodynamic flow may be the master regulator of yolk sac vascular
development.
Related articles in Development:
- Flow regulates arterial-venous differentiation in the chick embryo yolk sac
- Ferdinand le Noble, Delphine Moyon, Luc Pardanaud, Li Yuan, Valentin Djonov, Robert Matthijsen, Christiane Bréant, Vincent Fleury, and Anne Eichmann
Development 2004 131: 361-375.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]