Schweigerer L, Neufeld G, Friedman J, Abraham J A, Fiddes J C, Gospodarowicz D
Nature. 1987;325(6101):257-9. doi: 10.1038/325257a0.
Angiogenesis, the formation of new capillaries, which is observed in embryonic and injured tissue and is particularly prominent in the vicinity of solid tumours, involves the migration and proliferation of capillary endothelial cells. It is probably triggered by agents, such as basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), thought to be released from tissues adjacent to proliferating capillaries. As well as being a potent inducer of cell division in capillary endothelial cells in vitro, bFGF can act as an angiogenic agent in vivo. It is present in a wide variety of richly vascularized tissues including brain, pituitary, retina, adrenal gland, kidney, corpus luteum, placenta and various tumours. So far, however, the normal bFGF-producing cell species in these tissues have not been identified. We report here that capillary endothelial cells express the bFGF gene, that they produce and release bFGF and that bFGF derived from them can stimulate the proliferation of capillary endothelial cells. We conclude that bFGF can act as a self-stimulating growth factor for capillary endothelial cells, and that it is possible that the formation of new capillaries is induced by capillary endothelial cells themselves.
血管生成，即新毛细血管的形成，在胚胎组织和受损组织中均可观察到，在实体瘤周边尤为显著，它涉及毛细血管内皮细胞的迁移和增殖。这一过程可能由某些因子触发，比如碱性成纤维细胞生长因子（bFGF），据认为该因子是从增殖的毛细血管相邻组织中释放出来的。bFGF不仅在体外是毛细血管内皮细胞中细胞分裂的强效诱导剂，在体内也可作为血管生成因子发挥作用。它存在于多种血管丰富的组织中，包括脑、垂体、视网膜、肾上腺、肾、黄体、胎盘以及各种肿瘤。然而，迄今为止，这些组织中正常产生bFGF的细胞类型尚未明确。我们在此报告，毛细血管内皮细胞表达bFGF基因，能够产生并释放bFGF，且源自这些细胞的bFGF可刺激毛细血管内皮细胞的增殖。我们得出结论，bFGF可作为毛细血管内皮细胞的自我刺激生长因子，新毛细血管的形成有可能是由毛细血管内皮细胞自身诱导的。
