Hyaluronic acid turnover controls the severity of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations in bioengineered human micro-vessels

Cerebral Cavernous Malformations (CCMs) are vascular lesions that predominantly form in blood vessels of the central nervous system (CNS) upon loss of the CCM multimeric protein complex. The endothelial cells (ECs) within CCM lesions are characterised by overactive MEKK3 kinase and KLF2/4 transcription factor signalling, leading to pathological changes such as increased EC spreading and reduced junctional integrity. Concomitant to aberrant EC signalling, non-autonomous signals from the extracellular matrix (ECM) have also been implicated in CCM lesion growth and these factors might explain why CCM lesions mainly develop in the CNS. Here, we adapted a three dimensional (3D) microfluidic system to examine CCM1 deficient human micro-vessels in distinctive ECMs. We validate that EC pathological hallmarks are maintained in this 3D model. We further show that key genes responsible for homeostasis of Hyaluronic Acid (HA), a major ECM component of the CNS, are dysregulated in CCM. Supplementing the ECM in our model with forms of HA that are predicted to be reduced, inhibits CCM cellular phenotypes, independent of KLF2/4. This study thereby provides a proof-of-principle that ECM embedded 3D microfluidic models are ideally suited to identify how changes in ECM structure and signalling impact vascular malformations.