Multiple cellular, biochemical, and physical factors converge to coordinate organogenesis. During embryonic development, several organs such as the lung, salivary glands, mammary glands, and kidneys undergo rapid, but intricate, iterative branching. This biological process not only determines the overall architecture, size and shape of such organs but is also a pre-requisite for optimal organ function. The lung, in particular, relies on a vast surface area to carry out efficient gas exchange, and it is logical to suggest that airway branching during lung development represents a rate-limiting step in this context. Against this background, the vascular network develops in parallel to the airway tree and reciprocal interaction between these two compartments is critical for their patterning, branching, and co-alignment. In this mini review, we present an overview of the branching process in the developing mouse lung and discuss whether the vasculature plays a leading role in the process of airway epithelial branching.

多种细胞、生化和物理因素汇聚在一起协调器官发生。在胚胎发育过程中，肺、唾液腺、乳腺和肾脏等多个器官经历快速但复杂的迭代分支。这一生物过程不仅决定了这些器官的整体结构、大小和形状，而且也是实现最佳器官功能的先决条件。尤其是肺，依赖于巨大的表面积来进行有效的气体交换，因此有理由认为，肺发育过程中的气道分支代表了这种情况下的限速步骤。在此背景下，血管网络与气道树平行发育，这两个区室之间的相互作用对于它们的图案化、分支和共同对准至关重要。在这篇小综述中，我们概述了发育中的小鼠肺的分支过程，并讨论了脉管系统是否在气道上皮分支过程中起主导作用。