Spring 2020 – Characterizing Hypoxia by Analyzing Endothelial-mediated Growth and Remodeling of Fertilized Chicken Chorioallantoic Membrane Microvessels

The chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) has become a standard model to study how the structure and function of the microvasculature adapts in response to stimuli as diverse as tumor growth, drugs, and nutrients. Changes in oxygen and blood flow are known to be potent modulators of growth and remodeling of the microvascular networks of other animal models. Although investigators comparing fertilized eggs grown inside and outside of the shell have reported minor differences in embryo morphology, they have not established the difference in the structure and function of the CAM microvasculature. It has been well-established that changes in oxygen partial pressures affect microvascular radii in multiple animal models. Therefore the purpose of the present work is to evaluate the feasibility of using the CAM model to characterize the interaction of local hypoxia on endothelial-mediated growth and remodeling of microvessels, as well as to quantify differences in the structure and function of CAM vascular networks of in ovo and ex ovo models. We plan to map the vasculature of the chick embryo in both ex-ovo and in-ovo CAM models, and induce local hypoxia on days 7-10 embryos. Images will also be taken of the CAM for comparison of hypoxic effects specifically on the endothelial-mediated growth and remodeling of the microvasculature.