During embryonic vasculogenesis, endothelial precursor cells of mesodermal origin known as angioblasts assemble into a characteristic network pattern. Although a considerable amount of markers and signals involved in this process have been identified, the mechanisms underlying the coalescence of angioblasts into this reticular pattern remain unclear. Various recent studies hypothesize that autocrine regulation of the chemoattractant vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is responsible for the formation of vascular networks in vitro. However, the autocrine regulation hypothesis does not fit well with reported data on in vivo early vascular development. In this study, we propose a mathematical model based on the alternative assumption that endodermal VEGF signalling activity, having a paracrine effect on adjacent angioblasts, is mediated by its binding to the extracellular matrix (ECM). Detailed morphometric analysis of simulated networks and images obtained from in vivo quail embryos reveals the model mimics the vascular patterns with high accuracy. These results show that paracrine signalling can result in the formation of fine-grained cellular networks when mediated by angioblast-produced ECM. This lends additional support to the theory that patterning during early vascular development in the vertebrate embryo is regulated by paracrine signalling.

Axolotls are unique in their ability to regenerate the spinal cord. However, the mechanisms that underlie this phenomenon remain poorly understood. Previously, we showed that regenerating stem cells in the axolotl spinal cord revert to a molecular state resembling embryonic neuroepithelial cells and functionally acquire rapid proliferative divisions (Rodrigo Albors et al., 2015). Here, we refine the analysis of cell proliferation in space and time and identify a high-proliferation zone in the regenerating spinal cord that shifts posteriorly over time. By tracking sparsely-labeled cells, we also quantify cell influx into the regenerate. Taking a mathematical modeling approach, we integrate these quantitative datasets of cell proliferation, neural stem cell activation and cell influx, to predict regenerative tissue outgrowth. Our model shows that while cell influx and neural stem cell activation play a minor role, the acceleration of the cell cycle is the major driver of regenerative spinal cord outgrowth in axolotls.