Guidelines for Evaluating Endothelial Function in Vascular Tissue
The endothelium plays a central role in maintaining vascular homeostasis by orchestrating vascular tone, inflammation, healing, permeability, and thrombosis. Assessing endothelial function in vascular tissue is essential for understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying cardiovascular physiology and pathology. Traditional approaches, such as wire and pressure myography, have been instrumental in defining endothelium-dependent responses and identifying key pharmacological targets. However, the complexity and heterogeneity of endothelial cells across vascular beds, and their dynamic phenotypic changes in health and disease, necessitate the incorporation of new investigative strategies. Emerging methodologies, including bulk and single-cell transcriptomics, proteomics, and advanced imaging, now provide unprecedented insights into endothelial cell diversity and function. A team of leading experts in the field, who collectively reached a consensus on the most widely used techniques to evaluate endothelial function, developed these guidelines. The document establishes best practices for assessing endothelial function, from endothelial cell cultures to isolated vascular tissues, integrating conventional functional assays with modern molecular approaches. By fostering methodological consistency and embracing innovation, our goal is to enhance rigor, reproducibility, understanding, and discovery in endothelial biology.
Authors
- Christian Aalkjær (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2618-4015)
- Wenbin Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2334-8988)
- Steven S. Segal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5667-2154)
- Camilla Ferreira Wenceslau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0815-3568)
- Charles E. Norton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9442-4039)
- Ana Paula Davel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9862-4262)
- Scott D. Zawieja (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4658-3179)
- Brant E. Isakson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7692-6294)
- Joanna Kalucka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4887-7672)
- Pooneh Bagher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9778-6200)
- Julie K. Freed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9367-2281)
- Ayako Makino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1259-8604)
- Scott Earley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9560-2941)
- Boris Lavanderos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6827-7095)
- Jerome W. Breslin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4867-3151)
- Ana M. Briones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8218-5579)
- Aaron J. Trask (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2236-0659)
- Thomas A. Jepps (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9903-714X)
- Taine Costa
- Gisele Facholi Bomfim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5528-0028)
- Andreas Beyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9129-7492)
- Zhiyu Dai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0821-2839)
- Cameron G. McCarthy
- Jorge A. Castorena-Gonzalez
- Ebbe Boedtkjer
- Christopher Garland
- Calum Wilson
Institutions
- Tulane University (US)
- Scripps Research Institute (US)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Nationwide Children's Hospital (US)
- University of South Carolina (US)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (BR)
- University of Strathclyde (GB)
- Medical College of Wisconsin (US)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- University of South Florida (US)
- University of Rochester Medical Center (US)
- Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (BR)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Finland University (FI)
- University of Virginia (US)
- University of Nebraska Medical Center (US)
- Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (ES)
- University of Missouri (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology
- Published
- 2026-03-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00656.2025
- Primary Topic
- Angiogenesis and VEGF in Cancer
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00