A Rising Star
Analysis of the dynamic vasculature of an invertebrate star ascidian allows us to understand the process by which blood vessels shrink, just published in Molecular Biology of the Cell.
It’s a tiny marine invertebrate, no more than 3 millimeters in size. But closely related to humans, Botryllus schlosseri might hold the key to new treatments for cancer and a host of vascular diseases. Using Botryllus — more commonly known as star ascidian — we developed a new way to study the biology of blood vessels that may one day contribute to just such scientific discoveries.
Growing in colonies composed of many multicellular animals, the star ascidian has a massive, transparent vascular network located outside its collective body. This permits detailed study of vascular mechanics and by extension vascular disease — a malady that affects 1 billion people worldwide. We focused in particular on the interaction of cells and their physical environment, which includes changing the stiffness of a part of the blood vessels that reacts by withdrawing. Our findings just appeared in the journal Molecular Biology of the Cell.
