Confocal microscopy image showing a spinal cord section of a mouse embryo (embryonic day 11.5). The blood vessels (red) grow around the motor neurons (green).
Heidelberg Neuroscientists have identified a critical regulator for blood vessel growth in the developing embryonic spinal cord. The research group under the direction of Dr Carmen Ruiz de Almodóvar of the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center discovered that special nerve cells known as motor neurons control this process. This new insight into the nature of the interrelationship between the nervous system and the vascular system will help in understanding diseases of the central nervous system. These The nerve cells of the central nervous system (CNS), which is composed of the spinal cord, the brain, and the retina, must be supplied with sufficient oxygen and nutrients through the blood vessel system during development and their subsequent function. 'Moreover, there is an active bidirectional communication between the nerve cells and the blood vessels to ensure the proper development and maintenance of an organ as complex as the brain," reports Carmen Ruiz de Almodóvar. Research of the last decade revealed that the CNS and the vascular system share many molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways, which is also known as neurovascular link. However, still most of these molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood.
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