**Please mention the Journal of Clinical Investigation as the source of these articles**
Find below two highlighted articles and the full Table of Contents for the December 2, 2002 issue
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Restoration of Faulty Blood Vessel Architecture by Angiopoietin-1
Angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels) requires complex signaling
between multiple cell types, and abnormalities in these pathways results in
faulty vessels. During normal vessel formation endothelial cells that
comprise the blood vessel communicate, through a number of secreted agents
called growth factors, with a family of cells known as mural cells.
Endothelial cells secrete the growth factor PDGF B that is bound to mural
cells by the PDGF-b receptor. Murals cells are then recruited to the new
vessel where upon direct interaction with endothelial cells they secrete
angiopoietin-1 (Ang1). Multiple roles in vessel maturation have been
designated to Ang1 and they include sprouting, survival and stability of the
new vessel. However, the exact nature of its involvement is unclear. The
critical interactions between endothelial cells and mural cells facilitate
the growth and maturation of new blood vessels. In diseases such as diabetic
retinopathy, mural cells are absent from the vessel maturation process,
which results in abnormal vessels growing on top of the retina, which can
lead to blindness. The complex mechanisms by which mural cells regulate the
activity of endothelial cells is also unclear. One way to investigate this
relationship would be to develop an experimental system in which mural cells
and endothelial cells are separated, yet new blood vessels still develop. As
this development usually happens in the early embryo, it has been a
difficult experimental system to manipulate. In the December 2 issue of the
Journal of Clinical Investigation, Akiyoshi Uemura a
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Contact: Brooke Grindlinger, PhD
science_editor@the-jci.org
212-342-9006
Journal of Clinical Investigation
3-Dec-2002