N-cadherin deficiency impairs pericyte recruitment, and not endothelial differentiation or sprouting, in embryonic stem cell-derived angiogenesis

Endothelial cells express two classical cadherins, VE-cadherin and N-cadherin. VE-cadherin is absolutely required for vascular morphogenesis, but N-cadherin is thought to participate in vessel stabilization by interacting with periendothelial cells during vessel formation. However, recent data suggest a more critical role for N-cadherin in endothelium that would regulate angiogenesis, in part by controlling VE-cadherin expression. In this study, we have assessed N-cadherin function in vascular development using an in vitro model derived from embryonic stem (ES) cell differentiation. We show that pluripotent ES cells genetically null for N-cadherin can differentiate normally into endothelial cells. In addition, sprouting angiogenesis was unaltered, suggesting that N-cadherin is not essential for the early events of angiogenesis. However, the lack of N-cadherin led to an impairment in pericyte covering of endothelial outgrowths. We conclude that N-cadherin is necessary neither for vasculogenesis nor proliferation and migration of endothelial cells but is required for the subsequent maturation of endothelial sprouts by interacting with pericytes. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.