Architecture-dependent collective calcium signaling in microengineered and self-organized endothelial cell networks

This paper investigates the architecture dependence of endothelial cell networks on collective calcium signaling. Upon exogenous histamine stimulation, differential calcium responses are observed in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (IIUVEC) cultured monolayers, plasma lithography patterned hexagon cell networks, and capillary-like structures (CLS) self-organized on matrigel. By systematically modulating the cell-cell interaction with geometrical patterning and the gap-junction intercellular communication with pharmacological reagents, our results reveal the emergent network property of endothelial cells in response to extracellular chemical signals.