Bridging the Gap

Building a bridge across a fast-flowing river requires a perilous first step – someone must reach across the gap. For years, scientists have wondered how cells manage this during angiogenesis, when new branches form in existing blood vessels. Here we see endothelial cells similar to those lining our vessels, arranged around the curved surface of an artificially grown ‘microvessel-on-a-chip’. Captured using 3D microscopy, some cells extend arm-like projections around the curve of the vessel which then pull away, flapping around in the current, while the cells remain attached to the vessel wall. This support allows the tiny 'arms' to stretch out to cells on the opposite side, a bit like a human chain across a river (although about a million times smaller). Investigating the genes and proteins involved may suggest targets for drugs aiming to block angiogenesis in some cancers.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Video from work by Sabrina C. R. Staples and colleagues
• Robarts Research Institute, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
• Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), April 2025