title: Hirudo medicinalis: avascular tissues for clear-cut angiogenesis studies?
abstract: Basic studies on angiogenesis in normal and pathologic conditions, as well as research on drugs or genes/proteins that stimulate or regulate the angiogenic process, can rely on an increasing number of experimental models. Among non-mammalian models, Zebrafish is adopted by an increasing number of research groups. Moreover, angiogenesis and vasculogenesis in invertebrates like the leech Hirudo medicinalis share a high degree of similarity with the same processes occurring in humans, both under the structural/functional and biochemical points of view. Interestingly, Hirudo angiogenic growth factor receptors respond to corresponding human/mammalian recombinant growth factors and cytokines; in addition, Hirudo endogenous angiogenic growth factors and receptors react with antibodies against their human/mammalian counterparts. Furthermore, as it will be shown in this review, Hirudo has the unique advantage of having a virtually avascular muscular body wall, whereas the reliability of such a peculiar feature as a model for physiologically vascularised mammalian tissues has to be thoroughly investigated. Hirudo has proven so far to allow unambiguous, clear-cut studies on the angiogenic potential of gene-products or drugs, as well as on the anti-angiogenic compounds. This article will review the biology of angiogenesis in Hirudo and the data so far collected on angiogenesis stimulation/modulation in this model; an example describing a study on the biological activity of a naked DNA vector for angiogenesis gene therapy will also be provided.
authors.affiliation: Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Insubria, Via J.H. Dunant 3, 21100 Varese, Italy. magda.deeguileor@uninsubria.it
authors.forename: Magda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Eguileor
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tettamanti
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grimaldi
authors.forename: Gianpaolo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Perletti
authors.forename: Terenzio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Congiu
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rinaldi
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Valvassori
mesh_terms: D043925:Angiogenesis Inducing Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000502:physiology; D007865:Leeches / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D043925:Angiogenesis Inducing Agents; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D016207:Cytokines