Angiogenesis: update 2005.
Angiogenesis has critical roles in normal vascular development and in important pathologies including cancer, wound healing and inflammation. This brief article will review the angiogenic response induced by the vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (VPF/VEGF) family of proteins and particularly VEGF-A, thought to be the single most important angiogenic factor. It will also review the steps and mechanisms by which VEGF-A induces the formation of new blood vessels and will provide an initial classification of the abnormal blood vessels that form in pathological angiogenesis. Finally, it will touch on the exciting relationships that are emerging between angiogenesis and the hemostatic and nervous systems.
Dvorak
H F
HF
Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. hdvorak@bidmc.harvard.edu
D000818:Animals; D001777:Blood Coagulation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D015398:Signal Transduction; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism
D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A