Kuwano M, Fukushi J, Okamoto M, Nishie A, Goto H, Ishibashi T, Ono M
Department of Medical Biochemistry, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka.
Intern Med. 2001 Jul;40(7):565-72. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.40.565.
Angiogenesis is a recent highlight in the medical field; the developmental process and pathological conditions for various diseases can be understood from the novel aspect of "angiogenesis". Many angiogenesis-related factors are involved in the development of vessels during embryogenesis (vasculogenesis), as well as the induction of new vessels in response to physiological or pathological stimuli. In particular, the appearance of hemangioblasts, precursor cells for vascular endothelial cells and blood cells, and blood islands are expected to play a "prelude" role in tubulogenesis. Gene knock out mice of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/VEGF receptor, ephrin-B2, and angiopoietin-1 results in a failure of normal vessels production. Dormant factors derived from proteolytic cleavage of various physiological substrates are expected to balance a homeostasis of "angiogenic states" in the host. Furthermore, angiogenesis under various pathological conditions of malignant tumors, ocular diseases, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis and other diseases is associated with complex angiogenesis networks, suggesting pleiotropic mechanisms for angiogenesis.
血管生成是医学领域最近的一个研究热点；从“血管生成”这一新角度可以理解各种疾病的发展过程和病理状况。许多与血管生成相关的因子参与胚胎发育过程中血管的形成（血管发生），以及对生理或病理刺激作出反应时新血管的诱导。特别是，成血管细胞（血管内皮细胞和血细胞的前体细胞）和血岛的出现有望在血管形成中发挥“前奏”作用。血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）/VEGF受体、ephrin-B2和血管生成素-1的基因敲除小鼠会导致正常血管生成失败。源自各种生理底物蛋白水解切割的休眠因子有望平衡宿主中“血管生成状态”的稳态。此外，恶性肿瘤、眼部疾病、银屑病、类风湿性关节炎、动脉粥样硬化等各种病理状况下的血管生成与复杂的血管生成网络相关，提示血管生成存在多效性机制。
