On Feb 25, 2010, Circulation Research published online a research article from ION entitled "TRPC1 is Essential for In Vivo Angiogenesis in Zebrafish". This work was carried out by Peng-chun Yu, Shan-ye Gu and Ji-wen Bu from the laboratory of Dr. Jiu-lin Du.

Wiring vascular and neural networks are known to share common molecular signaling pathways. Activation of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) type C channels (TRPCs) has recently been shown to underlie chemotropic guidance of neural axons. In adult animals, TRPCs are expressed in endothelial cells (ECs) and required for the regulation of vascular tone and permeability. However, little is known about the role of TRPCs in vascular development. Pengchun Yu and colleagues used zebrafish as an in vivo model to determine the role of Trpc1 in angiogenesis. They found that trpc1 is required cell-autonomously for the angiogenic sprouting of intersegmental vessels (ISVs) in zebrafish larvae. Moreover, the angiogenic defect caused by trpc1 deficiency is associated with impaired filopodia extension, migration and proliferation of ISV tip cells. Furthermore, genetic and biochemical evidences suggest that Trpc1 is downstream to Vegf-a in controlling angiogenesis. Thus, this study demonstrates for the first time that Trpc1 is essential for angiogenesis in vivo, reminiscent of the role of TRPCs in axon guidance. It implicates that Trpc1 may represent a potential target for treating pathological angiogenesis.

This work was supported by grants from the National Basic Research Program of China (2006CB806605), the Key State Research Program of China (2006CB943802), and the Shanghai municipal government (06dj14010, 07pj14107).