Editorial [Hot topic: Transportalopathy and Vascular Cell Dysfunction (Guest Editor: Luis Sobrevia)]

Cardiovascular disease is characterized by abnormal function of the endothelium and smooth muscle of blood vessels. Several mechanisms had been proposed to explain, at least partially, the bases of these pathologies, and a significant contribution has come from cellular and molecular studies. Altered vascular reactivity has been detected in human subjects suffering cardiovascular disease as well as in isolated blood vessels, and altered biochemical mechanisms have been characterized in vascular cells in culture or in freshly isolated circulating cells. Complementary explanation for an altered vascular dysfunction is the phenomenon of epigenetics where the environment plays a critical role. Angiogenesis and vasculogenesis are adaptive mechanisms triggered at the vascular tree playing specific roles to secure healthiness of blood vessels, and disturbances of these phenomena are crucial in, for example, tumor growth or fetal development. Several pathologies are associated with altered activity and expression of plasma membrane proteins that are essential to take up metabolic substrates from the extracellular space or to allow the secretion of metabolites that are toxic or unnecessary for the cell. These proteins are grouped in several families and act as membrane transporters, or could also allow the semi-selective transfer of substrates through a group of proteins known as hemi-channels. This issue focuses into the insights of selected membrane transport processes, which could be determinant in pathologies associated with altered vascular cell function. Information regarding diabetes mellitus, pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, cell programming, epigenetics and cancer is included.