Dissertation

Development of an in vitro vascular network using zebrafish embryonic cells

One of the major limitations in culturing complex tissues or organs is the lack of vascularization in the cultured tissue. Development of a functional capillary bed could overcome this problem.

Author: Muhammad Ibrahim
Date: 13 June 2017
Links: Thesis in Leiden Repository

The zebrafish is a promising model for in vitro vasculogenesis and angiogenesis studies, as a replacement for currently used mammalian models. However, the culture of endothelial cells from this species is not well characterized. Here, we test different culture strategies, medium supplementations and culture substrates for their effect on the generation of putative endothelial (fli:GFP+ and kdrl:GFP+) cells and vascular morphogenesis in zebrafish blastocyst cell derived embryoid body culture. we have also developed a perfused culture model, using microfluidic technology, to culture zebrafish vascular networks. This study is a step forward to the development of zebrafish vascular networks in vitro.