An ultrastructural study of vascular proliferation and vascular alkaline phosphatase activity in the developing cerebral cortex of the rat

Alkaline phosphatase cytochemistry was employed to study the distribution of this enzyme in blood vessels during vascular differentiation and maturation during the postnatal development of the rat cerebral cortex. Enzyme reaction product was present in early vascular sprouts, and also throughout the subsequent maturation and differentiation of capillaries and arterial vessels. Cerebral capillaries appeared to be patent soon after the fusion of a sprout tip with another vessel; no evidence for delayed or synchronous opening was obtained. The distribution of alkaline phosphatase reaction product in vessel walls changed during vascular maturation. In vascular sprouts, reaction product was found mainly in the narrow lumen. As vessels became patent, reaction product appeared also on abluminal surfaces, at first chiefly in the narrow spaces between overlapping vascular cells. As vessels matured, reaction product became more generally distributed around the abluminal surface. In relatively mature capillaries and arterial vessels, it was restricted largely to endothelial cell surfaces and the spaces between smooth muscle cells. The significance of this distribution is unknown. Some possible explanations, including the possibility of artifact, are discussed. No alkaline phosphatase reaction product was found in differentiated veins.     

Imaging tumor angiogenesis with fluorescent proteins

We have developed three unique mouse models to image angiogenesis with fluorescent proteins, which are described in this review. First, we have adapted the surgical orthotopic implantation (SOI) model to image angiogenesis of human tumors labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) transplanted in nude mice. The nonluminous induced capillaries are clearly visible by contrast against the very bright tumor fluorescence examined either intravitally or by whole-body imaging in real time. Intravital images of an SOI model of human pancreatic tumors expressing GFP visualized angiogenic capillaries at both primary and metastatic sites. Whole-body optical imaging showed that blood vessel density increased linearly over a 20-week period in an SOI model of human breast cancer expressing GFP. Opening a reversible skin-flap in the light path markedly reduces signal attenuation, increasing detection sensitivity many-fold and enabling vessels to be externally visualized in GFP-expressing tumors growing on internal organs. The second model utilizes dual-color fluorescence imaging, effected by using red fluorescent protein (RFP)-expressing tumors growing in GFP-expressing transgenic mice that express GFP in all cells. This dual-color model visualizes with great clarity the details of the tumor-stroma interaction, especially tumor-induced angiogenesis. The GFP-expressing tumor vasculature, both nascent and mature, are readily distinguished interacting with the RFP-expressing tumor cells. Using a spectral imaging system based on liquid crystal tunable filters, we were able to separate individual spectral species on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Such techniques non-invasively visualized the presence of host GFP-expressing vessels within an RFP-labeled orthotopic human breast tumor by real-time whole-body imaging. The third model involves a transgenic mouse in which the regulatory elements of the stem cell marker nestin drive GFP. The nestin-GFP mouse expresses GFP in areas of the brain, hair follicle stem cells, and in a network of blood vessels in the skin interconnecting hair follicles. RFP-expressing tumors transplanted to nestin-GFP mice enable specific visualization of nascent vessels in skin-growing tumors such as melanoma. Thus, fluorescent proteins expressed in vivo offer very high resolution and sensitivity for real-time imaging of angiogenesis.     

胶质瘤血管新生及其调控机制

体内外研究表明实体性肿瘤的生长是依赖血管的,其直径一旦超过2 mm,若没有新生的血管供血则肿瘤的生长就会停止。胶质瘤是人体内血管化程度最高恶性的肿瘤之一。胶质瘤的血管发生与其他实体性肿瘤血管发生一样,由血管形成及血管新生两种方式构成：前者由内皮祖细胞或者血管母细胞形成新的血管;而后者是由组织中既存的成熟血管的内皮细胞发生增殖和游走形成小血管。血管新生是肿瘤血管生成的主要形式,胶质瘤血管新生的机制研究以及抑制其血管生成是胶质瘤治疗的一个新途径,成为近年来的研究热点,本文就胶质瘤血管新生及其调控机制作一综述。     

小鼠胰腺淋巴管的分布及其与胰岛的关系

目的:探讨小鼠胰腺淋巴管的形态分布及其结构特点。方法:对小鼠胰组织切片进行HE染色,5核苷酸酶(5-Nase)和碱性磷酸酶(ALP)双重染色,光镜、透射电镜、扫描电镜二次电子和背散射电子图像(SEI/BEI)观察。结果:小鼠胰腺的淋巴管结构较典型,在胰腺的小叶间结缔组织内,较大淋巴管与血管和导管相互伴行;毛细淋巴管起自胰腺腺泡周围,并且均匀地分布于整个小叶内;小叶内有单独走行的集合淋巴管,亦存在与血管并行情况;在胰岛内部未发现毛细淋巴管,但胰岛周围可见丰富的毛细淋巴管。结论:小鼠胰腺小叶间和小叶内结缔组织中,均有淋巴管分布;胰岛内部虽无淋巴管,但胰岛与周围毛细淋巴管的关系较密切。     

Monocrotaline-induced angiogenesis. Differences in the bronchial and pulmonary vasculature.

Vascular corrosion casting was used to search for angiogenesis in the blood vessels of the lungs of rats given monocrotaline. Animals treated with monocrotaline had new well-differentiated arteries and veins on their pleural surfaces. Animals not treated had no large vessel on their pleural surfaces. Animals receiving monocrotaline had capillaries around major arteries that were more dense, widened, and less tubular than normal. These capillaries occasionally occurred in sheets and had blind endings. The control animals had delicate, uniform, tubular capillaries. Alveolar capillaries in both groups showed no evidence of increase in size or number or change in shape. Light microscopy confirmed the finding of new vessels found with the casts. The finding of angiogenesis on the pleural surface and in the bronchovascular bundle, but not in the alveolar capillaries, suggests a basic difference in how these capillary beds respond to angiogenic stimuli. If alveolar capillaries are unable to undergo angiogenesis, concepts of lung development and tumor growth may be significantly altered. The lung may be a unique organ to study angiogenesis because of the different angiogenic potential of its two circulations. Study of these differences may lead to better understanding of inhibition of angiogenesis.     

Histological observations on the microenvironment of osteolytic bone metastasis by breast carcinoma cell line

Bone tissue, with its dynamic microenvironment featuring osteoclastic bone resorption, angiogenesis and matrix degradation, appears to facilitate proliferation of tumor cells after the onset of bone metastasis. In this study, we examined metastatic lesions in the femora of BALB/c nu/nu mice two weeks after intracardiac injection with human breast carcinoma MDA-231 cells. Histopathological observations showed the metastatic lesions close to the chondro-osseous junction, and revealed MDA-231 cells loosely intermingled with different cell types such as osteoblasts, fibroblastic stromal cells, osteoclasts and endothelial cells. In the metastatic nest, many tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAPase)-positive osteoclasts accumulated in direct contact with or were close to alkaline phosphatase (ALPase)- or receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL)-positive osteoblastic cells. It seems likely that osteoclastogenesis is mediated through cell-to-cell contacts with ALPase- and RANKL-expressing osteoblastic cells. Formation of many capillaries lacking complete basal membranes and pericytes ratified the results of in situ hybridization, which revealed intense expression of VEGF in tumor nests, and therefore, indicated ongoing tumor-induced angiogenesis. The tumor cells possessed matrix metallo-proteinases (MMPs)-1 and -9, and frequently extended their stout cytoplasmic processes into fragmented fibrillar components of the growth plate cartilage, implicating degradation of cartilaginous matrix. Thus, osteolytic bone metastasis has demonstrated pathological features as tumor-induced angiogenesis and degradation of extracellular matrix, in addition to osteoclastogenesis. This complex interplay between tumor cells and host tissues may enable and nourish the establishment of a microenvironment that facilitates tumor progression.     

Angiogenesis in Mice with Chronic Airway Inflammation : Strain-Dependent Differences

Chronic inflammation is associated with blood vessel proliferation and enlargement and changes in vessel phenotype. We sought to determine whether these changes represent different types of angiogenesis and whether they are stimulus dependent. Chronic airway inflammation, produced by infection with Mycoplasma pulmonis, was compared in strains of mice known to be resistant (C57BL/6) or susceptible (C3H). Tracheal vascularity, assessed in whole mounts after Lycopersicon esculentum lectin staining, increased in both strains at 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks after infection, but the type of vascular remodeling was different. The number of vessels doubled in tracheas of C57BL/6 mice, with corresponding increases of capillaries and venules. In contrast, neither the number nor the length of vessels changed in C3H mice. Instead, vessel diameter and endothelial cell number doubled, and the proportion of venules doubled with a corresponding decrease of capillaries. Although the infection had no effect on baseline plasma leakage, in both strains it potentiated the leakage produced by substance P. We conclude that the same stimulus can result in blood vessel proliferation or enlargement, depending on the host response. Endothelial cells proliferate in both cases, but in one case new capillaries form whereas in the other capillaries convert to venules.     

Lack of lymphangiogenesis in human primary cutaneous melanoma. Consequences for the mechanism of lymphatic dissemination.

Cutaneous melanoma has an initial preference for lymphatic spread. Remarkably, melanoma progression toward this metastasizing phenotype is accompanied by intense blood vessel angiogenesis (hemangiogenesis), but lymphangiogenesis, the formation of new lymph vessels in the tumor, has never been reported. To investigate how primary melanoma cells interact with the existing lymphatic microvasculature, and whether lymphangiogenesis occurs, an immunostaining was developed that differentially decorates blood and lymph vessels in frozen tissue sections. The density and distribution of both these vessel types in and around thin (< or = 1.5 mm) and thick (> or = 1.5 mm) primary melanoma lesions and in normal and uninvolved skin were determined. Although especially in thick melanoma lesions a significant increase in blood vessel density was observed, lymphatic density remained unaltered, showing that lymphangiogenesis did not occur. Morphological analysis indicated, however, that melanoma progression is accompanied by a sequence of events that involves hemangiogenesis supporting tumor expansion, especially in the vertical growth phase. Often, stromal sepia are formed around the blood capillaries in the tumor neovasculature protecting them from invasion. Lymph vessels inside the tumor were infrequently observed. However, subepidermal lymph vessels often seemed to be entrapped and penetrated by the expanding tumor mass. In this way, hemangiogenesis, as the driving force behind tumor expansion, might indirectly increase the chance of lymphatic invasion in the absence of lymphangiogenesis. This model explains the paradox that, although melanoma metastasis seems to require angiogenesis, a consistent relation of prognosis with blood capillary density in primary cutaneous melanoma is lacking.     

Intussusceptive microvascular growth in human glioma

Intussusceptive microvascular growth (IMG), which occurs by splitting of the existing vasculature by transluminal pillars or transendothelial bridges, has been demonstrated in several tumors such as colon and mammary carcinomas, melanoma and B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. In this study, we have correlated in human glioma the extent of angiogenesis, evaluated as microvascular density, the immunoreactivity of tumor cells to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), vessel diameter and IMG to the tumor stage. Results demonstrate for the first time a relationship in human glioma progression between angiogenesis, VEGF immunoreactivity of tumor cells, vessel diameter and the number of connections of intraluminal tissue folds with the opposite vascular wall, expression of IMG and suggest that IMG could be a mechanism of compensatory vascular growth occurring in human glioma. The advantages are that (1) blood vessels are generated more rapidly; (2) it is energetically and metabolically more economic; (3) the capillaries thereby formed are less leaky.     

Hydrocortisone influences developing collaterals

Summary The effect of chronic administration of hydrocortisone on the topographic distribution of several hydrolases has been studied in fully grown coronary arteries and in coronary collaterals of the dog.The response towards hydrocortisone appeared to be minimal in non-proliferating vessels, whereas significant enzyme adaptation was observed in growing vessels. New sites of activity were revealed for 5-nucleotidase and acid phosphatase. Strongly increased activity was noted in the vessel walls during the early stage of development for nucleoside diphosphatase and glucose 6-phosphatase. Well pronounced effects were observed equally for polyphosphatase and for thiamine pyrophosphatase. No modifications were induced in the case of alkaline phosphatase. An almost normal distribution pattern of these hydrolases was seen at the later stage of growth. The results were discussed in comparison with those obtained in untreated animals.     

Intratumoral proliferation of the blood vessels

The growth of vessels in experimental neoplasm occurs within 2-7 days after implantation. Newly formed vessels penetrate into the tumor only from the tissues of the tumor-carrying host. Vessels are formed in the tumor by budding. Proliferation of tumor cells begins only after the contact between them and the developing vascular network has been established. Myofibroblasts play an important role in the development of vessels. The intensity of new vessel formation is more than twice as high as in the wound process. The number of capillaries in developed tumors varies with an average of 30,000 in 1 mm2. Blood supply even within the same tumor is variable both in the form and location of the vessels. With increasing tumor volume intercapillary distances, diameter and length of the capillaries increase while the vascular bed volume, the general and local blood flow decrease. Reparation of the vascular bed in tumors occurs both due to preexisting vessels and by additional formation of new vessels. The muscular layer and innervation are lacking in the newly formed vessels. In the process of growth, compensatory-adaptative reactions directed to improvement of hemodynamics constantly develop in tumor tissues.     

人大脑内部微血管构筑——组织化学显示法研究

本文应用碱性磷酸酶组织化学对血管内皮的染色方法,光镜观察了3例人大脑内部的微血管构型。结果,皮质短动脉进入皮质内的分枝去向有:1.皮质返枝;2.水平枝;3.下降支。皮质长动脉末端的分枝类型分为:1.血管栅栏样分枝型;2.烛台样或小锚样分枝型;3.树根样分枝型。看到了从微动脉、毛细血管到微静脉的连续性通路。论述了皮质动脉与静脉之间在形态学方面的差别及皮质内血管吻合的几种形式,为更好地理解大脑皮质内微循环类型提供了形态学依据。     

Polymyositis-dermatomyositis: diagnostic and prognostic significance of muscle alkaline phosphatase.

The distribution and intensity of alkaline phosphatase deposition in 54 patients with dermatomyositis-polymyositis (PM-DM) was analyzed by the enzyme histochemical method. Increased enzyme reactivity of endomysial capillaries was found in 28% of patients, equally distributed between adult onset PM (Group I) and PM-DM with overlap in other connective tissue diseases (Group V). Patients with high endomysial capillary reactivity (R1 larger than or equal to 60) responded poorly to steroids, had an increased incidence of rheumatoid factor, and had less fiber degeneration/necrosis in their biopsies. Twenty-two percent of patients demonstrated prominent perimysial phosphatase reactivity localized in newly formed collagen and fibroblasts. Thirty patients (55%) demonstrated significant numbers of alkaline-phosphatase-positive fibers positively correlated with increased fiber degeneration/necrosis, endomysial fibrosis, increased numbers of triglyceride-containing muscle fibers, and NADH tetrazolium reductase hyperreactivity. Minimal overlap between the three enzyme distribution patterns was found. Endomysial capillary activity probably represents endothelial alkaline phosphatase induction analogous to the pattern seen normally in lower mammals (rat, rabbit, guinea pig). Alkaline phosphatase fiber reactivity probably represents a particular phase in fiber regeneration/maturation especially after denervation and is positively correlated with an increased incidence of spontaneous fibrillation potentials in PM-DM.     

Enzymes of purine and pyrimidine metabolism from the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum

Plasmodium falciparum trophozoites were isolated by mechanical rupture of infected human erythrocytes followed by a series of differential centrifugation steps. After lysis with sonication, the 100 000 x g supernatant of parasites and uninfected host cells was used to determine the specific activities of a number of enzymes involved in purine and pyrimidine metabolism. P. falciparum possessed the purine salvage enzymes: adenosine deaminase, purine nucleoside phosphorylase, hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (PRTase), xanthine PRTase, adenine PRTase, adenosine kinase. The last two enzymes, however, were present at much lower activity levels. Hypoxanthine was converted (presumably via IMP) into adenine and guanine nucleotides only in the presence both of supernatant and membrane fractions of P. falciparum. Two enzymes involved in the de novo synthesis of pyrimidines, orotic acid PRTase, and orotidine 5'-phosphate decarboxylase, were present in parasite extracts as were the enzymes for pyrimidine nucleotide phosphorylation: UMP-CMP kinase, dTMP kinase, nucleoside diphosphate kinase. Xanthine oxidase, CTP synthetase, cytidine deaminase and several kinases for the salvage of pyrimidine nucleosides were not detected in the parasites. Both phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase and uracil PRTase were present but at low activity levels. Human erythrocytes displayed similar but not identical enzyme patterns. Enzyme specific activities, however, were generally much lower than those of the corresponding parasite enzymes.     

Effect of age on blood vessels and neurovascular appositions in the rat dentate fascia

Rats aged 3, 9, 24 and 30 months were used in this study. We show increased basal lamina thickening and increased mitochondrial presence in walls of capillaries and not in walls of large vessel populations with age. This suggests that age selectively affects capillary structure. Ultrastructural differences between capillaries and two types of large vessels are reported and discussed in terms of their probable functional significance. In particular it was noted that there are more axon terminals, axons and dendrites adjacent to capillaries than to large vessels and that this was unaffected by increasing age. It is not clear whether the proximity of neuronal processes to a vessel wall serves a function, however, the larger number adjacent to capillaries than to large vessels indicates a more significant role for them in capillary rather than in large vessel function. Since increasing age did not alter the number of neuronal processes adjacent to vessels, age-related compromises in vessel function may be unrelated to neuronal regulation. The age-related changes are discussed as possible vascular markers for the aging brain.     

Stage-dependent expression of an angiogenic agent and vascular organization in experimental skin tumor development

Increased angiogenesis and expression of antibodies to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), an angiogenic agent, have been shown in the tumor development of many tissues. Areas of skin expressing VEGF and total volume of vessels expressing laminin in the wall were measured in chemical carcinogen-exposed mice using CAS-200 morphometry apparatus having a sensitivity exceeding 99% and reproducibility exceeding 99%. The area of VEGF expression was increased in carcinogen-exposed skin, dysplasia and in well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas, but decreased in squamous cell carcinomas with decreased degree of differentiation. The vessel volume increased prior to the formation of tumors in carcinogen-exposed skin as well as in highly malignant neoplasms. In well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas with an expansive growth pattern, the vessels were parallel to the basal membrane, in moderately differentiated tumors the vessels were in the direction of tumor invasion, and in poorly differentiated tumors, active angiogenesis consisted of numerous, enlarged vessels within the tumor. This study showed increased VEGF expression and number of vessels occurring in early stages of skin tumor development, pointing to a role of angiogenesis in chemical risk assessment and in cancer prevention. Altered vessel structure and vessel arrangement were distinct in later stages of tumor growth and in malignant neoplasms, pointing to the utility of detailed vessel analysis in neoplasm characterization.     

Enzymes of purine nucleotide metabolism in human lymphocytes

A methodology is presented for systemic analysis of purine enzymes in small lymphocyte subfractions. For the determination of 7 different enzymes of purine metabolism *hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HG-PRT), adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (A-PRT), adenosine deaminase (ADA), purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), adenosine kinase (AK), 5'-nucleotidase (5'N), and AMP-deaminase) less than 200,000 peripheral blood lymphocytes are needed. 1000-6000 lyophilised lymphocytes are incubated in micro-incubation vessels (3 microliter) with radioactive substrates for 15-180 min. Separation of substrates and products is achieved by thin-layer chromatography on PEI-cellulose. Addition of BSA to the incubation mixtures results in higher specific enzyme activities and narrower ranges of mean values of a control group.     

Methods for histochemical demonstration of vascular structures at the muscle-bone interface from cryostate sections of demineralized tissue

In tissue decalcified with MgNa2EDTA at a neutral pH activity for ATPase can used be for demonstration of the vascular structures at the muscle-bone interface. The GOMORI method for alkaline phosphatase is only of value, when fresh unfixed tissue is to be examined. The azo-dye method for alkaline phosphatase failed to give satisfactory results, and so did the alpha-amylase PAS method. 5'-nucleotidase activity is present in both capillaries and in cells lining the surfaces of bones, while larger blood vessels are poorly stained.     

Morphological aspects of the vascularization in intraventricular neural transplants from embryo to embryo

Intraventricular transplants of neural tissues were performed in ovo from embryo to embryo. Fragments of the nervous wall of the optic lobe (tectum) from 14-day chick or 12-day quail embryos (donor) were inserted into the ventricle of the right optic lobe of 6-day chick or 5-day quail embryos (host). Chick-to-chick, chick-to-quail and quail-to-chick grafts were carried out. The vascularization changes occurring in the host tectum and in the grafted neural tissues were analysed under light, transmission, and scanning electron microscopes and by morphometric methods. In the host embryo tectum, the neural graft stimulates a statistically significant increment in vessel density and a vessel sprouting into the ventricle of the optic lobe. The vascular sprouts reach the transplanted tissue and establish connections with its native microvasculature. The chick-to-quail and quail-to chick grafts, submitted to immunoreaction with a quailspecific antibody which recognizes an antigen (MB1) present on endothelial cells, indicate that re-establishment of the circulation in the graft depends upon anastomoses between host and donor vasculatures and the rapid new growth of host-derived and donor-native vessels. The presence of macrophage-like cells escorting the new-growing vessels suggests that these cells are involved in the host and donor tissue angiogenesis.