[Endothelial cell function and angiogenesis].

Angiogenesis, a process of new blood vessel formation, is an integral part of development, wound repair and tumor growth. The formation of capillary networks requires a complex series of cellular events, in which endothelial cells locally degrade their basement membrane, migrate into the connective tissue stroma, proliferate at the migrating tip, enlongate and organize into capillary loops. In response to angiogenic stimuli, endothelial cells in culture develop networks of capillary-like tubes. In this paper, we showed the relationship between angiogenesis and diseases, the assay systems of angiogenesis and the reports of angiogenesis published recently.