Novel regulatory mechanisms underlying angiogenesis during wound healing revealed by fluorescence-based live-imaging in zebrafish.

Angiogenesis is a dynamic morphogenetic process that refers to the growth of new blood vessels from the pre-existing vessels and is critical for tissue repair during wound healing. In adult normal tissues, quiescent endothelial cells and pericytes maintain vascular integrity, whereas angiogenesis is immediately induced upon tissue injury, thereby forming neovascular networks to maintain homeostasis. However, impaired angiogenesis results in development of chronic and non-healing wounds in various diseases such as diabetes and peripheral artery diseases. Zebrafish are a vertebrate model organism widely used for studying many medical and life science fields. Indeed, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying regulation of wound angiogenesis have recently been studied by performing fluorescence-based live-imaging of adult zebrafish. In this review, we describe how endothelial cells and pericytes establish neovascular networks during wound angiogenesis and also introduce a novel role of blood flow-driven intraluminal pressure in regulating angiogenesis during wound healing.