Abstract
The establishment of a functional cardiovascular system is crucial for the development of all vertebrates. Defects in the development of the cardiovascular system lead to cardiovascular diseases, which are among the top 10 causes of death worldwide. However, we are just beginning to understand which signaling pathways guide blood vessel growth in different tissues and organs. The advantages of the model organism zebrafish (Danio rerio) helped to identify novel cellular and molecular mechanisms of vascular growth. In this review we will discuss the current knowledge of vasculogenesis and angiogenesis in the zebrafish embryo. In particular, we describe the molecular mechanisms that contribute to the formation of blood vessels in different vascular beds within the embryo.
Highlights
The formation of a functional cardiovascular system is essential for the development of all vertebrates
A network of blood vessels is formed to supply organs and tissues with oxygen, nutrients, signaling molecules and metabolites while simultaneously removing waste products contained in the blood
71% of human proteins have an orthologue in the zebrafish genome [8] and, most importantly, the signaling pathways that drive organ formation are conserved to mammals [9,10,11]
Summary
The formation of a functional cardiovascular system is essential for the development of all vertebrates. In addition to blood carrying vessels, the cardiovascular system is comprised of a network of lymphatic vessels. Already at 48 hpf the embryos develop the characteristic vertebrate body plan [12] and by pharmacological inhibition of pigmentation the embryos stay transparent [16], which enables the visualization of organ development even deep inside the tissue. Those properties, in addition to the diploid genome, make the zebrafish a valuable model for genetic [15,17,18] and pharmacological screens [11,19,20]. These transgenic lines enable precise observation of endothelial cell behavior, organelles, or even activities of enzymes [25] and second messengers like Ca2+ [26] in vivo
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