vii
Preface
It has been 7 years since the first edition of Biophysical Regulation of Vascular
Differentiation and Assembly in the series Biological and Medical Physics,
Biomedical Engineering. With the significant changes that have occurred in the field
in the interim, I am pleased to present this second edition.
Our first book presented the reader with an understanding of the concept of how
biophysical cues in the microenvironment regulate vascular differentiation and
assembly. Since then, many studies have focused on elucidating critical aspects in
the microenvironment that regulate vascular development and growth, both in vitro
and in vivo. Today, researchers are using increasingly sophisticated tools such as
microfluidics, particles, biomaterials, and three-dimensional printing to recapitulate many biophysical cues in tissue culture systems. Some of these technologies
are also being translated into animal models to validate mechanism and test potential therapeutics.
This book updates our previous work on a range of aspects governing the microvasculature related to normal and disease processes. The first chapter explores
recent insights into how endothelial cell-pericyte interactions modulate tube morphogenesis and maturation (Davis). Chapters 2 and 3 detail how mechanical forces
regulate vascularization in three-dimensional constructs (Zohar, Landau, Levenberg)
and the means by which matrix properties and oxygen tension regulate vascular fate
and assembly (Blatchley, Abaci, Hanjaya-Putra, Gerecht). The next chapter focuses
on biophysical cues as they relate to vascular aging, and various culture systems for
studying vascular aging (Pitrez, Aires, Tomé, Ferreira, Ferreira). Finally, in the
realm of tissue engineering, the use of 3D printing to engineer complex vascularized
tissue (Yeung, Yesantharao, Ong, Hibino) and harnessing of biophysical cues for
therapeutic vasculature interfacing with the damaged brain (Nih, Carmichael,
Segura) and infarcted heart (Morrissette-McAlmon, Hawthorne, Snyder, Grayson)
are presented.
I am grateful to all the authors for their outstanding and timely contributions and
Springer Nature for publishing this project. Special thanks to Christopher Coughlin,
Preface
It has been 7 years since the first edition of Biophysical Regulation of Vascular
Differentiation and Assembly in the series Biological and Medical Physics,
Biomedical Engineering. With the significant changes that have occurred in the field
in the interim, I am pleased to present this second edition.
Our first book presented the reader with an understanding of the concept of how
biophysical cues in the microenvironment regulate vascular differentiation and
assembly. Since then, many studies have focused on elucidating critical aspects in
the microenvironment that regulate vascular development and growth, both in vitro
and in vivo. Today, researchers are using increasingly sophisticated tools such as
microfluidics, particles, biomaterials, and three-dimensional printing to recapitulate many biophysical cues in tissue culture systems. Some of these technologies
are also being translated into animal models to validate mechanism and test potential therapeutics.
This book updates our previous work on a range of aspects governing the microvasculature related to normal and disease processes. The first chapter explores
recent insights into how endothelial cell-pericyte interactions modulate tube morphogenesis and maturation (Davis). Chapters 2 and 3 detail how mechanical forces
regulate vascularization in three-dimensional constructs (Zohar, Landau, Levenberg)
and the means by which matrix properties and oxygen tension regulate vascular fate
and assembly (Blatchley, Abaci, Hanjaya-Putra, Gerecht). The next chapter focuses
on biophysical cues as they relate to vascular aging, and various culture systems for
studying vascular aging (Pitrez, Aires, Tomé, Ferreira, Ferreira). Finally, in the
realm of tissue engineering, the use of 3D printing to engineer complex vascularized
tissue (Yeung, Yesantharao, Ong, Hibino) and harnessing of biophysical cues for
therapeutic vasculature interfacing with the damaged brain (Nih, Carmichael,
Segura) and infarcted heart (Morrissette-McAlmon, Hawthorne, Snyder, Grayson)
are presented.
I am grateful to all the authors for their outstanding and timely contributions and
Springer Nature for publishing this project. Special thanks to Christopher Coughlin,