Molecular Mechanisms of Angiogenesis

Blood vessels provide essential nutrients to almost every organ system. It followsthat abnormal blood vessel growth is implicated in many clinically relevantdisease processes. Excess vessel growth is a feature of cancer, arthritis, psoriasis,diabetic retinopathy, infections, obesity, allergy, atherosclerosis, nasal polyps,and endometriosis, to name but a few. Inadequate vessel growth or excess vesselregression is most frequently linked to tissue ischemia, such as occurs during theevolution of a myocardial infarct, stroke, or limb ischemia. However, abnormalvessel regression also contributes to many other disorders including, for example,pre-eclampsia, age-dependent skin changes, nephropathies, bone loss, diabetes,macular degeneration, and such neurodegenerative disorders as amyotrophiclateral sclerosis.