Synopsis: We find that the size of the adult mouse liver is predetermined in a neonatal period by the angiogenic capacity of a newly-identified endothelial progenitor pool, rather than by the proliferation rate of hepatocytes.
Azizoglu DB, Braitsch C, Marciano DK, Cleaver O. Afadin and RhoA control pancreatic endocrine mass via lumen morphogenesis. Genes Dev. 2017 Dec 1;31(23-24):2376-2390. (featured on journal cover)
Synopsis: We find that two cytoskeleton-linked molecules, Afadin and RhoA, support a 3-dimensional mesh of tubes in the embryonic pancreas that in turn serves as a niche for pancreatic progenitors and controls the final endocrine mass in this critical metabolic organ.
Synopsis: We provide a step-by-step anatomical and molecular characterization of how the pancreas is vascularized in the mouse embryo.
Azizoglu DB, Cleaver O. Blood vessel crosstalk during organogenesis-focus on pancreas and endothelial cells. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol. 2016 Sep;5(5):598-617. (review article, featured on journal cover).