Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 8, Issue 1, 2007

The development and remodeling of vessels is a crucial process in many physiological and pathophysiological processes making it topic of in-depth research in laboratories all around the world. Vascular occlusive diseases as well as malignant tumors are head of death causing aliments in industrialized countries. The notion that tumor angiogenesis may have therapeutic implications in the control of tumor growth was alrea Read More

Angiogenesis is a developmental process that also plays the central role in adults during the female menstruation cycle, wound healing and neoplastic growth and metastasis. Ideally, blocking neovessel growth starves the developing tumor and induces tumor regression. Restricting the vascular ingrowth into the tumor might have adverse effect on drugs targeting the tumor. Nevertheless, anti-VEGF treatment of the neo Read More

Arterioles within the microcirculation control organ blood flow and represent the main peripheral resistance within the circulation. However, larger vessels with a diameter of more than 150 m are mostly used to study vascular behavior. Although arterioles have features in common with these conducting vessels, they exhibit distinct properties and the contribution of different pathways to constriction or relaxation varies with ves Read More

In this review, the compartments of the vasculature will be discussed with respect to their potential contribution to the build-up of a differentiated and functionally meaningful vessel system. Chronic ischemia of muscle tissue results in microvessel rarification, which represents a potential therapeutic target, given the viability of the parenchyma. In particular, a chain of microcirculatory events will be described which - after Read More

The compensatory growth of blood vessels after major arterial occlusions has been termed arteriogenesis. Although having some characteristics in common with angiogenesis, marked differences between both forms of vascular growth exist relating to triggers, underlying mechanisms and physiologic effects. Arteriogenesis describes the remodelling of small interconnecting arterial anastomoses with almost no net blood flo Read More

Vascular bypass grafting is a commonly performed procedure for ischemic heart disease and peripheral vascular disease. However, approximately one in fourteen patients do not have suitable autologous arteries or veins available for grafting. Synthetic vascular grafts were introduced in the 1960s to overcome these problems, but while they perform adequately in high-flow, large-diameter vessel settings they are generally n Read More

There is considerable interest in biological sources for replacement, repair, as well as vascularization of tissue. The remarkable properties of blood stem cells encourage interest in their therapeutic potential. But what are these properties, and how do they influence their clinical potential and the advisability of stem cell use as a therapeutic resource? Rational assessment of the significance of in vitro and animal in vivo data should Read More