Link to bioRxiv paper:
http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2023.03.27.534302v1?rss=1

Authors: Yordanov, T. E., Martinez, M. A. E., Esposito, T., Tefft, J. B., Labzin, L. I., Stehbens, S. J., Rowan, A., Hogan, B. M., Chen, C. S., Lauko, J., Lagendijk, A. K.

Abstract:
Cerebral Cavernous Malformations (CCMs) are vascular lesions that predominantly form in blood vessels of the central nervous system (CNS) upon loss of the CCM multimeric protein complex. The endothelial cells (ECs) within CCM lesions are characterised by overactive MEKK3 kinase and KLF2/4 transcription factor signalling, leading to pathological changes such as increased EC spreading and reduced junctional integrity. Concomitant to aberrant EC signalling, non-autonomous signals from the extracellular matrix (ECM) have also been implicated in CCM lesion growth and these factors might explain why CCM lesions mainly develop in the CNS. Here, we adapted a three dimensional (3D) microfluidic system to examine CCM1 deficient human micro-vessels in distinctive ECMs. We validate that EC pathological hallmarks are maintained in this 3D model. We further show that supplementing the ECM with distinct forms of Hyaluronic Acid (HA), a major ECM component of the CNS, alters CCM1 biology, independent of KLF2/4. This study provides a proof-of-principle that ECM embedded 3D microfluidic models are ideally suited to identify how changes in ECM structure and signalling impact vascular malformations.

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