title: Lipid rafts: integrated platforms for vascular organization offering therapeutic opportunities.
abstract: Research on the nanoscale membrane structures known as lipid rafts is relevant to the fields of cancer biology, inflammation and ischaemia. Lipid rafts recruit molecules critical to signalling and regulation of the invasion process in malignant cells, the leukocytes that provide immunity in inflammation and the endothelial cells that build blood and lymphatic vessels, as well as the patterning of neural networks. As angiogenesis is a common denominator, regulation of receptors and signalling molecules critical to angiogenesis is central to the design of new approaches aimed at reducing, promoting or normalizing the angiogenic process. The goal of this review is to highlight some of the key issues that indicate the involvement of endothelial cell lipid rafts at each step of so-called 'sprouting angiogenesis', from stimulation of the vascular endothelial growth factor to the choice of tip cells, activation of migratory and invasion pathways, recruitment of molecules that guide axons in vascular patterning and maturation of blood vessels. Finally, the review addresses opportunities for future studies to define how these lipid domains (and their constituents) may be manipulated to stimulate the so-called 'normalization' of vascular networks within tumors, and be identified as the main target, enabling the development of more efficient chemotherapeutics and cancer immunotherapies.
authors.affiliation: Section of Experimental Pathology and Oncology, Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Viale GB Morgagni 50, 50134, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laurenzana
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fibbi
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chillà
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Margheri
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Del Rosso
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rovida
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Del Rosso
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Margheri
mesh_terms: D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000378:metabolism*; D022461:Caveolins / Q000378:metabolism; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000378:metabolism*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D015398:Signal Transduction; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D022461:Caveolins; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors