Fig. 7: Proposed molecular pathway of EC outgrowth in response to plastic hydrogels. | Nature Communications

Fig. 7: Proposed molecular pathway of EC outgrowth in response to plastic hydrogels.

From: Hydrogels with tunable mechanical plasticity regulate endothelial cell outgrowth in vasculogenesis and angiogenesis

Fig. 7

Hydrogels with high plastic networks enable the rapid formation of integrin clusters and p-FAK activation in a stiffness-independent manner. Activated FAK further contributes to an increase in p-MLC expression and cell contractility, which dissociates β-cat from the VE-CAD and downregulates its expression, disrupting the integrity of intercellular adhesion junctions. By this molecular pathway, ECs are found with the largest lumens formed in MP hydrogels for vasculogenesis and present the longest invasion distance in MP hydrogels by spheroid sprouting manner, demonstrating the matrix plasticity-mediated ECs behaviors.

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