First published online June 25, 2007
Development 134, 1403e (2007)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Muscle-splitting vessels
During limb development, dorsal and ventral muscles progressively separate
to form individual muscles in a process called muscle splitting. In their
study on p. 2579,
Duprez and colleagues reveal that blood vessels regulate this process. They
report that the location of endothelial cells, which are present in the
developing chick limb before muscle, determines the site of future zones of
muscle cleavage. By overexpressing VEGFA (a key growth factor in blood vessel
development) in chick wing buds prior to muscle splitting, the researchers
induced both blood vessel and connective tissue formation, while inhibiting
muscle formation. Conversely, blocking blood vessel formation with a soluble
VEGFR1 in chick wing buds caused muscle fusion. The authors propose that PDGFB
(platelet-derived growth factor B), which is expressed in endothelial cells,
is the molecular signal that regulates this process, perhaps by promoting the
production of the extracellular matrix and attracting connective tissue cells
to future sites of muscle splitting.
Related articles in Development:
- Involvement of vessels and PDGFB in muscle splitting during chick limb development
- Samuel Tozer, Marie-Ange Bonnin, Frédéric Relaix, Sandrine Di Savino, Pilar García-Villalba, Pascal Coumailleau, and Delphine Duprez
Development 2007 134: 2579-2591.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
