Skip to Main Content
Boston University
  • Bostonia
  • BU Today
  • The Brink
  • University Publications

    • Bostonia
    • BU Today
    • The Brink
  • School & College Publications

    • The Record
Other Publications
The Brink
  • Sections
Pioneering Research from Boston University

New Study Probes Mechanics of Blood Vessel Formation

Findings could open up new avenue for disease treatment

Cells sprouting from the end of an artificial blood vessel engineered by Professor Christopher Chen and his team. Photo courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Engineering Cells and Regeneration

December 3, 2014
Twitter Facebook

Angiogenesis, the sprouting of new blood vessels from preexisting ones, is essential to fuel human growth and development but also plays a critical role in the onset and progression of some major diseases. While the process accelerates in cancerous tumors as they grow, it can’t go fast enough in the most common form of heart disease and in engineered tissue implants, where the growth of new vessels is critical to providing organs and tissues with a sufficient oxygen supply. Drugs that either inhibit or accelerate the creation of new blood vessels could play a significant role in treating certain diseases, but their effectiveness will depend on a more complete understanding of how those vessels form.

Christopher Chen
Christopher Chen, professor of biomedical engineering

Building on research pinpointing various biochemical factors involved in angiogenesis, Boston University College of Engineering Professor Christopher Chen (biomedical engineering), one of the world’s leading tissue engineering researchers and an associate faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, has sought to shed light on the mechanics underlying the process. Since 2011, he and postdoctoral fellow Peter Galie have led a team of researchers at Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania to investigate why fluid filtering through blood vessel walls triggers the sprouting of new blood vessels.

Conducting experiments with artificial “blood vessel-on-a-chip” devices that they engineered using a design inspired by microfluidic technology developed by Associate Professor Joe Tien (biomedical engineering, materials science and engineering), the researchers discovered that cells lining each artificial vessel sprouted to form new vessels once the force exerted by fluid leaking through the original vessel wall exceeded a certain threshold. They also determined they could induce sprouting of a new vessel by boosting the force exerted by fluid flowing inside the original vessel to match this same threshold, challenging a widely held notion that flow within blood vessels always prevents sprouting.

“These findings suggest that our blood vessels can sense when blood flow exceeds their carrying capacity and respond by producing additional vessels on demand,” Chen explained. “Perhaps we could one day take advantage of this response to enhance vessel regrowth where the need is critical, such as after a heart attack.”

Chen and his collaborators reported their findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Their work was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Engineering Cells and Regeneration, where Chen was a founding director.

“The logical next step is to determine the molecular mechanism behind this phenomenon,” said Galie. “What proteins are involved and how might they be targeted in new drug therapies?”

  • Share this story

Share

New Study Probes Mechanics of Blood Vessel Formation

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Latest from The Brink

  • AI and Stolen Art

    Using AI to Identify Plundered Antiquities

  • Campus Climate Lab

    BU Students Win Janetos Climate Action Prize for Uncovering Air Quality Gaps Between Old and New Campus Buildings

  • Low Back Pain

    Finding Non-Opioid Solutions for Low Back Pain

  • Carbon Credits

    Do Forest Carbon Credits Work and Actually Help the Environment?

  • Infectious Diseases

    What’s It Like to Be an Infectious Diseases Outbreak Responder?

  • Autism

    What Causes Autism? And Is There an Autism Epidemic, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says?

  • CTE

    NIH Awards $15M to BU-Led Effort to Diagnose CTE During Life

  • Research News

    Brink Bites: Tracking Endangered Frogs, Why Concentration Wanders, Studying Kids’ Beliefs

  • Economy

    Massachusetts Could See Drastic, Cascading Economic Downturn from New Policies, BU Study Finds

  • Innovator of the Year

    Pulmonologist Darrell Kotton Is BU’s Innovator of the Year

  • Expert Take

    “Everyday Discrimination” Linked to Increased Anxiety and Depression Across All Groups of Americans

  • Climate Misinformation

    Native Ads Are Shaping Climate Opinions. BU Researchers Say There’s a Way to Resist

  • Global Health

    BU Launches an Open-Source Infectious Diseases Monitoring Tool Powered by AI and Human Experts

  • Hearing Loss

    Trouble Hearing in Noisy Places and Crowded Spaces? Researchers Say New BU-Developed Algorithm Could Help Hearing Aid Users

  • Suicide

    Red Sox Player Jarren Duran’s Suicide Attempt Admission Praised by BU Trauma Expert for Helping with Stigma

  • Elections

    How Could the SAVE Act Impact Young Voters and Married People Who’ve Changed Their Name?

  • Awards

    Guggenheim Fellowships Awarded to Six BU Researchers and Scholars

  • Microbes

    Microbes Reveal Clues About Extraterrestrial Life

  • Maternal Health

    BU Sociologist and Her Students Train as Doulas to Help Inform Research on Pregnancy and Childbirth

  • Tariffs

    “The Trade Deficit Isn’t an Emergency—It’s a Sign of America’s Strength,” Writes BU Economist

Section navigation

  • Sections
  • Notable
  • Videos
  • About Us
  • Topics
  • Archive
Subscribe to Newsletter

Explore Our Publications

Bostonia

Boston University’s Alumni Magazine

BU Today

News, Opinion, Community

The Brink

Pioneering Research from Boston University

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Weibo
  • Medium
© Boston University. All rights reserved. www.bu.edu
© 2025 Trustees of Boston UniversityPrivacy StatementAccessibility
Boston University
Notice of Non-Discrimination: Boston University prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex or gender, age, national origin, ethnicity, shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, military service, marital, parental, veteran status, or any other legally protected status in any and all educational programs or activities operated by Boston University. Retaliation is also prohibited. Please refer questions or concerns about Title IX, discrimination based on any other status protected by law or BU policy, or retaliation to Boston University’s Executive Director of Equal Opportunity/Title IX Coordinator, at titleix@bu.edu or (617) 358-1796. Read Boston University’s full Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Search
Boston University Masterplate
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
New Study Probes Mechanics of Blood Vessel Formation
0
share this