Angiogenesis Flashcards
Examples of when angiogenesis occurs
embryonic development, wound healing, menstrual cycle
Insufficient angiogenesis example (4)
Baldness
- MI- ischaemia
- Limb fractures
- Thrombosis
Excessive angiogenesis examples (4)
- Retinal disease
- Cancers
- Atherosclerosis
- Obesity
3 ways to make a blood vessel
- Vasculogenesis (bone marrow progenitor cells)
- Angiogenesis (sprouting-> Sprouts from a pre-existing blood vessel)
- Arteriogenesis (collateral growth)
Describe the model of sprouting angiogenesis starting with a pro-angiogenic stimulus
- A pro-angiogenic stimulus (e.g. a growth factor) triggers the activation of specific endothelial cells
- These endothelial cells’ cytoskeletons change polarity in order to put out ‘fingers’ to sense its external environment
- The cell also has to remain in contact with the other endothelial cells This means it needs to communicate with them at the endothelial cell-cell contacts, to cause them to divide while the original cell (the TIP cell) migrates towards to the stimulus
- Eventually, the sprout fuses with another sprout coming from somewhere else
- This new blood vessel then needs stabilizing to avoid vascular malformations
What size blood vessels can undergo sprouting angiogenesis?
Small
What condition triggers angiogenesis
Hypoxia
What protein controls gene expression by oxygen
- Hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (HIF-alpha)
What binds HIF-alpha in oxygenated conditions
a protein called Von Hippel-Lindau
a tumour suppressor gene known as pVHL
What does protein called Von Hippel-Lindau do
Binds to HIF-alpha in oxygenated conditions causing ubiquination (breakdown) of the molecule
What happens to HIF-alpha when there is lack of oxygen
it is not bound by VHL and so enters the nucleus and binds HIF-beta, which drives transcription of genes that promote angiogenesis such as VEGF
example of gene that promotes angiogenesis?
VEGF
what’re the 5 VEG factors
a b c d and PIGF (placental growth factor)
what does VEGF stand for
VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR
What type of receptor is the VEGFR
tyrosine kinase (combine to form dimers)
What’re the VEGF coreceptors
Nrp1 and Nrp2
What’re the VEGR
1 2 and 3
which VEGFR is the major mediator of VEGF-dependent angiogenesis
VEGFR2
What is tip cells selection based off
Notch signaling between adjacent endothelial cells at the angiogenic front