FIG. 4.

Activation of the Wnt pathway abrogates EC adherens junctions and inhibits vascular network formation in matrigel. (A) ECs cocultured with Wnt3a-transfected MSCs display diminished localization of β-catenin at the membrane, which results in a restoration of vascular network formation in matrigel in vitro shown in (B). (B) also shows MSC-EC cultures treated with the recombinant Wnt3a protein display the same effect as MSC transfected with a Wnt3a expressing construct. Effect is quantitatively represented by changes in branch length (C) and branch point number (D). (E) Schematic depicting effect of Wnt/β-catenin/VE-Cadherin signaling pathway on ECs. * indicates p<0.05. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/scd