title: Role of fibroblast growth factor signaling in vascular formation and maintenance: orchestrating signaling networks as an integrated system.
abstract: The vascular system has begun to be perceived as a dynamic organ actively controlling a wide variety of physiological processes. The structural and functional integrity of blood vessels, regulated by signaling activities finely modulating cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, is crucial for vessel physiology, as well as basic functionality of the tissue. Throughout the process of new vessel formation, while blood vessels are actively reorganized and remodeled with migration and proliferation of vascular cells, maintenance of vascular barrier function is essentially important. These conflicting properties, i.e., dynamic cellular mobilization and maintenance of barrier integrity, are simultaneously achieved through the interaction of highly organized signaling networks governing coordinated cell-cell interplay. Recent evidence suggests that the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) system plays a regulatory role in several physiological conditions in the vascular system. In this article, we will attempt to summarize current knowledge in order to understand the mechanism of this coordination and evaluate the pivotal role of FGF signaling in integrating a diverse range of signaling events in vascular growth and maintenance.
authors.affiliation: Section of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale Cardiovascular Research Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. masahiro.murakami@yale.edu
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakurai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000378:metabolism*; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism; D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases