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Synthetic hydrogels engineered to promote collecting lymphatic vessel sprouting.

ABSTRACT: The lymphatic vasculature is an essential component of the body's circulation providing a network of vessels to return fluid and proteins from the tissue space to the blood, to facilitate immune ce-ll and antigen transport to lymph nodes, and to take up dietary lipid from the intestine. The development of biomaterial-based strategies to facilitate the growth of lymphatics either for regenerative purposes or as model system to study lymphatic biology is still in its nascent stages. In particular, platforms that encourage the sprouting and formation of lymphatic networks from collecting vessels are particularly underdeveloped. Through implementation of a modular, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based hydrogel, we explored the independent contributions of matrix elasticity, degradability, and adhesive peptide presentation on sprouting of implanted segments of rat lymphatic collecting vessels. An engineered hydrogel with 680 Pa elasticity, 2.0 mM RGD adhesive peptide, and full susceptibility to protease degradability produced the highest levels of sprouting relative to other physicochemical matrix properties. This engineered hydrogel was then utilized as a scaffold to facilitate the implantation of a donor vessel that functionally grafted into the host vasculature. This hydrogel provides a promising platform for facilitating lymphangiogenesis in vivo or as a means to understand the cellular mechanisms involved in the sprout process during collecting lymphatic vessel collateralization.

SUBMITTER: Hooks JST

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9134840 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Synthetic hydrogels engineered to promote collecting lymphatic vessel sprouting.

Hooks Joshua S T JST Bernard Fabrice C FC Cruz-Acuña Ricardo R Nepiyushchikh Zhanna Z Gonzalez-Vargas Yarelis Y García Andrés J AJ Dixon J Brandon JB

Biomaterials 20220329

The lymphatic vasculature is an essential component of the body's circulation providing a network of vessels to return fluid and proteins from the tissue space to the blood, to facilitate immune ce-ll and antigen transport to lymph nodes, and to take up dietary lipid from the intestine. The development of biomaterial-based strategies to facilitate the growth of lymphatics either for regenerative purposes or as model system to study lymphatic biology is still in its nascent stages. In particular, ...[more]

PMID: 35428014

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Project description:Collecting lymphatic vessels (cLVs) exhibit spontaneous contractions with a pressure-dependent frequency, but the identity of the lymphatic pacemaker cell is still debated. By analogy to pacemakers in the GI and lower urinary tracts, proposed cLV pacemaker cells include interstitial cells of Cajal like cells (ICLC), pericytes, as well as the lymphatic muscle (LMCs) cells themselves. Here we tested the extent to which these cell types are invested into the mouse cLV wall and if any cell type exhibited morphological and functional processes characteristic of pacemaker cells: a contiguous network; spontaneous Ca2+ transients; and depolarization-induced propagated contractions. We employed inducible Cre (iCre) mouse models routinely used to target these specific cell populations including: c-kitCreERT2 to target ICLC; PdgfrβCreERT2 to target pericytes; PdgfrαCreER™ to target CD34+ adventitial fibroblast-like cells or ICLC; and Myh11CreERT2 to target LMCs. These specific inducible Cre lines were crossed to the fluorescent reporter ROSA26mT/mG, the genetically encoded Ca2+ sensor GCaMP6f, and the light-activated cation channel rhodopsin2 (ChR2). c-KitCreERT2 labeled both a sparse population of LECs and round adventitial cells that responded to the mast cell activator compound 48-80. PdgfrβCreERT2 drove recombination in both adventitial cells and LMCs, limiting its power to discriminate a pericyte specific population. PdgfrαCreER™ labeled a large population of interconnected, oak leaf-shaped cells primarily along the adventitial surface of the vessel. Titrated induction of the smooth muscle-specific Myh11CreERT2 revealed a LMC population with heterogeneous morphology. Only LMCs consistently, but heterogeneously, displayed spontaneous Ca2+ events during the diastolic period of the contraction cycle, and whose frequency was modulated in a pressure-dependent manner. Optogenetic depolarization through the expression of ChR2 by Myh11CreERT2, but not PdgfrαCreER™ or c-KitCreERT2, resulted in a propagated contraction. These findings support the conclusion that LMCs, or a subset of LMCs, are responsible for mouse cLV pacemaking.

Project description:Background: Dysregulation of TRPV4-mediated signaling has been associated with inflammation and tissue fibrosis, both of which are key features in the pathophysiology of lymphatic system diseases; however, the expression and functional roles of lymphatic TRPV4 channels remain largely unexplored. Methods: We generated a single-cell RNA sequencing dataset from microdissected mouse collecting lymphatic vessels to characterize the expression of Trpv4. Using a novel Trpv4fx/fx mouse strain and the Cre-lines Prox1-CreERT2 and LysM-Cre we assessed the role of TRPV4 channels in lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) and peri-lymphatic myeloid cells, respectively. Confocal microscopy and extensive functional experimentation on isolated and pressurized lymphatics, including measurements of intracellular calcium activity, were employed to validate our scRNAseq findings and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Clinical significance was assessed using biopsies from breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) patients. Results: We characterized the single-cell transcriptome of collecting lymphatic vessels and surrounding tissues. Trpv4 was highly enriched in LECs and in a subset of Lyve1+ macrophages displaying a tissue-resident profile. In clinical samples, BCRL was associated with increased infiltration of macrophages co-expressing LYVE1 and TRPV4. Pharmacological activation of TRPV4 channels led to contractile dysregulation in isolated collecting lymphatics. The response was multi-phasic, including initial vasospasm and subsequent vasodilation and inhibition of contractions, which was associated with the activation of thromboxane A2 receptors (TXA2Rs) in lymphatic muscle cells (LMCs) by secreted prostanoids from TRPV4+ myeloid cells, and increased nitric oxide (and perhaps other vasodilatory prostanoids) from LECs. The TXA2R-mediated vasospasm resulted from increased mobilization of calcium from intracellular stores through IP3 receptors and store-operated calcium entry. Conclusions: Our results uncovered a novel mechanism of lymphatic contractile dysregulation mediated by the crosstalk between TRPV4-expressing myeloid cells, including LYVE1+ macrophages, and LMCs or LECs. These findings highlight potentially important roles of TRPV4 channels in lymphatic dysfunction associated with inflammation, including secondary lymphedema.

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Synthetic hydrogels engineered to promote collecting lymphatic vessel sprouting.

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Synthetic hydrogels engineered to promote collecting lymphatic vessel sprouting.

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