The arterial and venous differentiation of endothelial cells in the forming of the cranial vasculatures of zebrafish

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The cranial vascular system of zebrafish was composed of three clusters of the fli1 positive angioblasts, of which the first cluster recognized as lateral dorsal artery or primitive internal carotid artery, and the second cluster assembling at the rostral-internal region to the optic capsule, and the third cluster arising among the lateral-ventral wall of hindbrain. The rostral and caudal clusters of arterial origins express the arterial maker hey 2, while the clusters arising among the lateral-ventral wall of hindbrain express the venous maker flt4. Shh was expressed in the adjacent region of arterial angioblast-clusters, which are suggested to determine arterial endothelial fate. Time-lapse movies imaging the arterial-venous differentiation also revealed that the branches of intercarotid artery are originated by arterial angioblast clusters at the rostral, and the branches of vertebral-basilar artery are derived from the venous angioblast clusters arising among the hindbrain.