Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 13, Issue 20, 2007

In the first contribution to this special issue of Current Pharmaceutical Design dedicated to topics on angiogenesis and anti-angiogenesis, Presta and co-workers [1] describe the FGF/FGFR as a target for anti-angiogenesis therapy, starting from the experimental evidence that the FGF family is involved in angiogenesis and angioproliferative diseases. On this basis, they summarize different approaches aimed at impairing FGF/FG Read More

Angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel formation from pre-existing ones, plays a key role in various physiological and pathological conditions, including embryonic development, wound repair, inflammation, and tumor growth. The 1980s saw for the first time the identification, purification, and sequencing of the two prototypic heparin-binding angiogenic fibroblast growth factors (FGF) 1 and 2. Since then, 22 str Read More

Heparin and heparin-like oligo- and polysaccharides bind to fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and modulate their ability to form active ternary complexes with FGF receptors (FGFRs). Considerable efforts have been made in recent years to identify the minimal heparin and heparan sulfate (HS) sequences that bind and activate individual FGFs. Heparin sequences involved in interaction with FGFs invariably contain at least on Read More

Heparanase is an endoglycosidase which cleaves heparan sulfate (HS) and hence participates in degradation and remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Heparanase is preferentially expressed in human tumors and its over-expression in tumor cells confers an invasive phenotype in experimental animals. The enzyme also releases angiogenic factors from the ECM and thereby induces an angiogenic response in vivo. Read More

Angiogenesis is regulated by stimulators and inhibitors and involve multiple biological processes including endothelial cell proliferation, migration, cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion, assembly into tube structures as well as apoptosis. Designing and developing peptides for therapeutic application to inhibit angiogenesis is an important area in antiangiogenic drug development. Small peptides have advantages over proteins for ther Read More

More than two decades have been spent to develop many families of synthetic matrix metalloproteinases inhibitors (MMPI) as therapeutical agents for serious pathologies. Unfortunately, clinical trials conducted on broad-spectrum inhibitors have yielded disappointing results, especially in the cancer pathology area. Despite these outcomes, some small synthetic MMPI are in advanced trials or launched in clinical ones for cance Read More

The negative regulation of angiogenesis may provide a promising therapeutic target for a number of lifestyle-related diseases, as the switch to an angiogenic phenotype in many tissues represents a critical step during the progression of such disorders. Cartilage is avascular and shows resistance to vascular invasion from the surrounding well-vascularized mesenchyme. Using guanidine extracts of fetal bovine cartilage, Read More

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most important cause of death in the industrialized world. After experimental myocardial infarction, numerous dilated vessels appear in the border zone between the infarct and noninfarct areas. Angiogenic therapy has been widely regarded as an attractive approach for both treating CAD and enhancing arterioprotective functions of the endothelium. In this report, we critically review the evi Read More