セミナー情報

The cranial vasculature is essential for the survival and development of the central nervous system, and is important in stroke and other brain pathologies. Cranial vessels form in a reproducible and evolutionarily conserved manner, but the process by which these vessels assemble and acquire their stereotypic patterning remains unclear. We are using the zebrafish to better understand the mechanisms underlying cranial vascular development by (i) carrying out a precise anatomical description of the formation process, (ii) investigating the molecular mechanisms guiding vascular patterning and assembly in the brain, and (iii) using genetic screens to identify new genes important for brain vessel formation. We have found that one of the most important brain arteries, the basilar artery, is formed by a novel process of medial sprouting and migration of endothelial cells from a bilateral pair of primitive veins, the primordial hindbrain channels. Subsequent second wave of dorsal sprouting from the primordial hindbrain channels give rise to angiogenic central arteries that penetrate into the hindbrain. We have also discovered that chemokine signaling is required to direct basilar artery assembly. I will report on these and other novel molecular processes involved in the assembly of hindbrain vascular networks.