Pro-angiogenic factors enhance pericyte function during angiogenesis

Therapeutic stimulation of angiogenesis to re-establish blood flow in ischemic tissues offers great promise as a treatment for patients suffering from cardiovascular disease or trauma. Pericytes, perivascular cells on capillaries play important roles during angiogenesis, but their roles are poorly understood due to a lack of in vitro models to study their behavior. We present two in vitro models to study pericyte detachment and migration from and recruitment to the endothelium. Our results show that pro-angiogenic factors VEGF and Ang2 promote pericyte detachment, while pro-maturation factor PDGF increases pericyte speed and controls pericyte recruitment. Our results demonstrate the importance of temporal control over signaling in promoting vascular growth and vessel maturation and could be useful to promote healing after acute wounds and in chronic conditions such as diabetic ulcers and peripheral artery disease.