{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T21:05:35Z","timestamp":1789592735117,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,19]],"date-time":"2023-12-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1702944000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the Austrian Science Funds FWF","award":["P32558-B"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P32558-B"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biomolecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In Alzheimer\u2019s disease, the blood\u2013brain barrier breakdown, blood vessel damage and re-organization are early events. Deposits of the small toxic peptide beta-amyloid (A\u03b2) cause the formation of extracellular plaques and accumulate in vessels disrupting the blood flow but may also play a role in blood clotting. In the present study, we aim to explore the impact of A\u03b2 on the migration of endothelial cells and subsequent vessel formation. We use organotypic brain slices of postnatal day 10 wildtype mice (C57BL\/6) and connect them to small microcontact prints (\u00b5CPs) of collagen. Our data show that laminin-positive endothelial cells migrate onto collagen \u00b5CPs, but without any vessel formation after 4 weeks. When the \u00b5CPs are loaded with human A\u03b240, (aggregated) human A\u03b242 and mouse A\u03b242 peptides, the number and migration distance of endothelial cells are significantly reduced, but with a more pronounced subsequent vessel formation. The vessel formation is verified by zonula occludens (ZO)-1 and -2 stainings and confocal microscopy. In addition, the vessel formation is accompanied by a stronger GFAP-positive astroglial formation. Finally, we show that vessels can grow towards convergence when two opposed slices are connected via microcontact-printed lanes. In conclusion, our data show that A\u03b2 promotes vessel formation, and organotypic brain slices connected to collagen \u00b5CPs provide a potent tool to study vessel formation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biom14010003","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,19]],"date-time":"2023-12-19T11:17:24Z","timestamp":1702984644000},"page":"3","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Beta-Amyloid Enhances Vessel Formation in Organotypic Brain Slices Connected to Microcontact Prints"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-2449-4885","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katharina","family":"Steiner","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Psychiatry and Experimental Alzheimer\u2019s Research, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7641-4240","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christian","family":"Humpel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Psychiatry and Experimental Alzheimer\u2019s Research, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"281","DOI":"10.1007\/s10571-016-0334-7","article-title":"The Science of Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (VCID): A Framework for Advancing Research Priorities in the Cerebrovascular Biology of Cognitive Decline","volume":"36","author":"Corriveau","year":"2016","journal-title":"Cell Mol. 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