Vascular development is believed to occur first by vasculogenesis followed by angiogenesis. Though angiogenesis is the formation of new vessels, we found that vascular density actually decreases during this second stage. The onset of the decrease coincided with the entry of erythroblasts into circulation. We therefore measured the level of shear stress at various developmental stages and found that it was inversely proportional to vascular density. To investigate whether shear stress was inhibitory to angiogenesis, we altered shear stress levels either by preventing erythroblasts from entering circulation ("low" shear stress) or by injection of a starch solution to increase the blood plasma viscosity ("high" shear stress). By time-lapse microscopy, we show that reverse intussusception (merging of two vessels) is inversely proportional to the level of shear stress. We also found that angiogenesis (both sprouting and splitting) was inversely proportional to shear stress levels. These effects were specific to the arterial or venous plexus however, such that the effect on reverse intussusception was present only in the arterial plexus and the effect on sprouting only in the venous plexus. We cultured embryos under altered shear stress in the presence of either DAPT, a Notch inhibitor, or DMH1, an inhibitor of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway. DAPT treatment phenocopied the inhibition of erythroblast circulation ("low" shear stress) and the effect of DAPT treatment could be partially rescued by injection of starch. Inhibition of the BMP signaling prevented the reduction in vascular density that was observed when starch was injected to increase shear stress levels.

Arteriovenous differentiation is a key event during vascular development and hemodynamic forces play an important role. Arteriovenous gene expression is present before the onset of flow, however it remains plastic and flow can alter arteriovenous identity. Notch signaling is especially important in the genetic determination of arteriovenous identity. Nevertheless, the effect of the onset of circulation on Notch expression and signaling has not been studied. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate the interaction of Notch1 signaling and hemodynamic forces during early vascular development. We find that the onset of Notch1 expression coincides with the onset of flow, and that expression is pan-endothelial at the onset of circulation in mouse embryos and only becomes arterial-specific after remodeling has occurred. When we ablate flow in the early embryo, endothelial cells fail to express Notch1. We show that low and disturbed flow patterns upregulate Notch1 expression in endothelial cells in vitro, but that higher shear stress levels do not (≥10 dynes/cm2). Using siRNA, we knocked down Notch1 to investigate the role of Notch1 in mechanotransduction. When we applied shear stress levels similar to those found in embryonic arteries, we found an upregulation of Klf2, Dll1, Dll4, Jag1, Hey1, Nrp1 and CoupTFII but that only Dll4, Hey1, Nrp1 and EphB4 required Notch1 for flow-induced expression. Our results therefore indicate that Notch1 can modulate mechanotransduction but is not a critical mediator of the process since many genes mechanotransduce normally in the absence of Notch1, including genes involved in arteriovenous differentiation.

Shear stress, a mechanical force created by blood flow, is known to affect the developing cardiovascular system. Shear stress is a function of both shear rate and viscosity. While established techniques for measuring shear rate in embryos have been developed, the viscosity of embryonic blood has never been known but always assumed to be like adult blood. Blood is a non-Newtonian fluid, where the relationship between shear rate and shear stress is nonlinear. In this work, we analyzed the nonNewtonian behavior of embryonic chicken blood using a microviscometer and present the apparent viscosity at different hematocrits, different shear rates, and at different stages during development from 4 days (Hamburger-Hamilton stage 22) to 8 days (about HamburgerHamilton stage 34) of incubation. We chose the chicken embryo since it has become a common animal model for studying hemodynamics in the developing cardiovascular system. We found that the hematocrit increases with the stage of development. The viscosity of embryonic avian blood in all developmental stages studied was shear rate dependent and behaved in a non-Newtonian manner similar to that of adult blood. The range of shear rates and hematocrits at which nonNewtonian behavior was observed is, however, outside the physiological range for the larger vessels of the embryo. Under low shear stress conditions, the spherical nucleated blood cells that make up embryonic blood formed into small aggregates of cells. We found that the apparent blood viscosity decreases at a given hematocrit during embryonic development, not due to changes in protein composition of the plasma but possibly due to the changes in cellular composition of embryonic blood. This decrease in apparent viscosity was only visible at high hematocrit. At physiological values of hematocrit, embryonic blood viscosity did not change significantly with the stage of development. microelectromechanical systems; hematocrit; shear rate; shear stress; hemodynamic; rouleaux; vascular development HEMODYNAMICS, or blood fluid dynamics, are important not only for cardiovascular function but also for the development of the cardiovascular system. Blood flow creates a force called shear stress. Chronic changes in shear stress levels lead to a remodeling of the vasculature that normalizes the level of shear stress in the adult (20). Shear stress has also been found to be important during cardiovascular development, affecting heart formation (17), vascular remodeling (25, 36), arterial-venous differentiation (21), and hematopoiesis by the vascular endothelium (1, 29). For these reasons, there has been a significant effort in recent years to measure the shear stress levels during early embryonic development and link specific flow patterns or levels of shear stress to events in vascular development.Shear stress is a function of the shear rate and the viscosity of the fluid. The development of flow visualization techniques with micrometer-scale resolution, such as Doppler optical coherence tomography (12) and microparticle ima...

The glycocalyx, and the thicker endothelial surface layer (ESL), are necessary both for endothelial barrier function and for sensing mechanical forces in the adult. The goal of this study is to use a combination of imaging techniques to establish when the glycocalyx and endothelial surface layer form during embryonic development and to determine the biological significance of the glycocalyx layer during vascular development in quail embryos. Using transmission electron microscopy, we show that the glycocalyx layer is present as soon as blood flow starts (14 somites). The early endothelial glycocalyx (14 somites) lacks the distinct hair-like morphology that is present later in development (17 and 25 somites). The average thickness does not change significantly (14 somites, 182 nm ± 33 nm; 17 somites, 218 ± 30 nm; 25 somites, 212 ± 32 nm). The trapping of circulating fluorescent albumin was used to evaluate the development of the ESL. Trapped fluorescent albumin was first observed at 25 somites. In order to assess a functional role for the glycocalyx during development, we selectively degraded luminal glycosaminoglycans. Degradation of hyaluronan compromised endothelial barrier function and prevented vascular remodeling. Degradation of heparan sulfate down regulated the expression of shear-sensitive genes but does not inhibit vascular remodeling. Our findings show that the glycocalyx layer is present as soon as blood flow starts (14 somites). Selective degradations of major glycocalyx components were shown to inhibit normal vascular development, examined through morphology, vascular barrier function, and gene expression.

Objective-The H2.0-like homeobox transcription factor (HLX) plays an essential role in visceral organogenesis in mice and has been shown to regulate angiogenic sprouting in vitro and in zebrafish embryos. We therefore examined the role of HLX in vascular development in mouse and avian embryos. Approach and Results-In situ hybridization showed that Hlx is expressed in a subset of sprouting blood vessels in postnatal mouse retinas and embryos. Hlx expression was conserved in quail embryos and upregulated in blood vessels at the onset of circulation. In vitro assays showed that Hlx is dynamically regulated by growth factors and shear stress alterations. Proangiogenic vascular endothelial growth factor induces Hlx expression in cultured endothelial cells, whereas signals that induce stalk cell identity lead to a reduction in Hlx expression. HLX was also downregulated in embryos in which flow was ablated, whereas injection of a starch solution, which increases blood viscosity and therefore shear stress, causes an upregulation in HLX. HLX knockdown in vitro resulted in a reduction in tip cell marker expression and in reduced angiogenic sprouting, but Hlx −/− embryos showed no defect in vascular sprouting at E8.5, E9.5, or E11.5 in vivo. Vascular remodeling of the capillary plexus was altered in Hlx −/− embryos, with a modestly enlarged venous plexus and reduction of the arterial plexus. Conclusions-Our findings indicate not only that Hlx regulates sprouting in vitro, but that its role in sprouting is nonessential in vivo. We find HLX is regulated by shear stress and a subtle defect in vascular remodeling is present in knockout embryos. (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc